LIBRARY OF
WELLESLEY COLLEGE
BEQUEST OF
AMM
OLD CLOCKS AND WATCHES
AND THEIR MAKERS
OLD CLOCKS AND
WATCHES & THEIR
MAKERS
BEING AN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE
ACCOUNT OE THE DIEEERENT STYLES OF
CLOCKS AND WATCHES OE THE PAST, IN
ENGLAND AND ABROAD
TO WHICH IS AI3DEI)
A LIST OE TEN THOUSAND MAKERS
BY
F. J. BRITTEN
Autlior ot
" T/ie Hatch and Clockmakers' Handbook , Dictionary and Gitidc,"
" Hatch Springing and Adjusting^^ Etc.
SECOND EDITION, MUCH ENLARGED,
WITH
SEVEN HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS, MOSTLY FROM
PHOTOGRAPHS
\.
LONDON
B. T. BATSFORD, 94 HIGH HOLBORN
190+
'^*
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BRAUBUKY, AGNEW, & CO. LI)., fKINTERS,
LONDON AND TONBKIUGE.
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PREFATORY NOTES.
•Since the publication, in i<Sij4, of " l-'ornier Clock unci Watch-
makers and their Work," so many suggestions have reached nie
from lovers of old clocks and watches that I have been induced
to recast the volume. Much additional information of a general
cliaracter has been embodied in the present book, and details
relating to modern construction wliich appeared before are now
omitted.
Technical terms are, 1 am told, particularly exasperating to people
unacquainted with horological phrases, and I ha\e therefore a\oided
them as much as possible. "The Watch and Clockmakers' Hand-
book, Dictionary and Guide " may be consulted by those especially
interested in the mechanism of clocks and watches, and who desire
more explicit details than I have given here.
Few places can boast of a finer display of eighteenth-century
clocks than Windsor Castle. The principal representative specimens
I have been enabled to illustrate and describe by special permission
of the Queen.
Additions have been made to the list of old makers and some
inaccuracies corrected. Se\eral items of information in connection
with this list I have obtained from the magnificent collection of
tradesmen's cards owned by the Hon. Gerald Ponsonby, who
allowed me free access to this most interesting record. A perusal
of the Banks collection of tradesmen's cards at the British Museum
has also elicited particulars not to be met with in ordinary channels.
^Ir. J. E. Hodgkin, F.S.A., furnished me with a list of the clock and
vi Prefatory Notes.
watchmakers in his collection, which proved a useful check in several
instances. Mr. C. H. Read, of the British Museum, has given me
every possible help in going over the unsurpassed display of time-
keepers in his charge, for the purpose of revising the references
thereto. A similar favour in respect of the collection at South
Kensington Museum has been accorded by Mr. A. B. Skinner.
I have to acknowledge the kindness of many owners of old time-
keepers who permitted me to inspect their treasures. In particular
I should mention Mr. Albert Schloss, who has choice examples of
every period ; he placed the Avhole of them in my hands for exami-
nation, and of these between sixty and seventy have been selected
for illustration.
F. J. B.
35, Northampton SyuARE, London, E.G.
April, iSgg.
NOTE TO SECOND EDITION.
That this edition is so much larger than the previous one is due
mainly to the kindness of owners of old timekeepers, who have
permitted me to illustrate and describe them. Altogether, more
than three hundred new illustrations have been provided. The
chief alteration in the arrangement is di\ision into chapters, which
will, I trust, prove convenient to readers. The section on long case
clocks has been entirely re-written, and that on clocks in the French
style considerably extended. To all friends and correspondents who
have favoured me with information and suggestions I offer the most
grateful acknowledgment, and I must, in particular, mention the
kind assistance of Mr. Albert Schloss and Mr. C. F. Bell.
F. J. B.
35, Northampton Square, London, E.C
April, 1904.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
AND I'ARLV TIMi: KECORDKKS.
Solar Time — Cycle of the Sun — Sidereal Time — Duration of a Year-
Golden Number — Epact — Number of Direction — Roman Indiction —
Julian Period -Meridian Dials — Horizontal Sun Dial — Ring Dial —
Clepsydra^ — Wick and Lamp Timekeepers — Sand Glass
CHAPTER II.
WIUGHT CLOCKS.
Early Clocks — Jacks — St. Paul's — Westminster — Rouen — Glastonbury —
Wimborne — De Vick — Palais de Justice — Foliot or Verge — Exeter —
Oxford — Strasburg — Lubeck — Hans of Jena — XVth Century Clocks —
Anne Boleyn — Hampton Court — Fine — Habrecht — Lyons — Venice
CHAPTER III.
PORTABLE TIMEKEEPERS.
Robert Bruce — Henlein — Early Examples — Zech — Mainspring and Fusee
— Octagonal — Nef — Dresden — Pendulum —Balance Spring — Alarum —
.\utomata — Bacchus — Crucifix — Elizabeth — Mary of Scots — Death's-
head — Tambourine Case — Spherical Watch — Astronomical Watch —
P>ook — Padlock — Lion — Cruciform — Fancy Shapes— Tulip — Poppy —
Floral — Olive - — Ring extremely diminutive — Horn — Butterfly —
Octagonal — Reputed Whiting — Square Steel — Oval — Holbein — Salt-
cellar 62
CHAPTER IV.
POCKET WATCHES, ETC.
Cromwell — Watch Glasses — Cases — Enamel — Pair Cases— Chasing —
Repoiissf — Steel — Carnelian — Tortoise-shell — Bull's-eye — Watch Papers
— Engine-turning — Parti-coloured Gold — Dials — Early Minute Indi-
cators—Hands— Changing Hour-Figures — Fencing Soldiers — Pendulum
Watches — Musical Watches — Moving Figures — Souvenir Watch —
Winged Mercury — Tra\elling Watches— Watch Kejs ....
viii Contents.
CHAPTER V.
RECORDS OF EARLY MAKERS, ETC.
PAGE
Cratzer — Newsam — Bull — Nouwen — Garret— Grinkin — Henche — Flood-
North — Crayle — Alcock — Ramsay — Partridge — The Clockmakers'
Company — East — Jones — Barlow — Betts — Tompion — Graham — Quare
— Fromanteel — Hooke — Huygens — Barrow — Knibb — Harrys — Bradley
— Ellicott — Sully — Harrison — Pinchbeck — Mudge — Arnold — Earnshaw
— Ascertaining the longitude at sea by means of the Chronometer —
VuUiamy — Clay — Ferguson — Jenkins — Margetts — Breguet — Equation
Clocks — Enderlin — Lichfield Clock — Bridges — Lovelace — Cox — Horst-
mann — Fan Clocks ........... 245
CHAPTER VI.
FRENCH CLOCKS AND CASES IN THE FRENCH STYLE — OTHER
CURIOUS TIMEKEEPERS.
Early Records — Paris Guild — Boulle or Buhl Work — Clocks at Windsor
Castle — Marot — Martinet — Le Roy — Lepaute — Mantel Clocks — Hang-
ing or Cartel Clocks — Thuret — Courtois — Courvoisier — Gudin— Le Noir
— Robin — Leguesse — Dauthiau — Passement — Sotian — Berthoud —
Lepine — Bailly I'Aine — Porcelain Cases — Symbolical Clock Hands —
Italian Cartel Timepieces — INIystery Clocks — Falling Ball — Grollier de
Serviere — Rolling Ball — Atlas — Globes — Urns — Vases — Marie
Antoinette — Falconet — Three Graces — Negress Head — Rolling Clock —
Schmidt's Mystery Clock — Fan-shaped Clock— Bird Cage — Magnetic
Timekeepers — Congreve Clock — Japanese Clocks — Hogarth . . . 378
CHAPTER VIL
THE PROGRESSION OF ENGLISH DOMESTIC CLOCKS.
Lantern Clocks—Bob Pendulum — Bowyer — Knifton — Dyde — Frets —
Sheep"s Head Clocks — Hood Clocks — Long Case Clocks — Smith-
Clement — Dials — Prime — Tompion — Clay — Cornerpieces of Various
Periods — Further Examples of Dials and Hands — Cases — Examples —
Marqueterie — Oriental Lacquer — Chippendale — Sheraton — Bracket or
Pedestal Clocks — Basket Top— Bell Top — Engraved Back Plates —
Musical Clocks — Broken Arch — Balloon — Lancet — Taxes on Clocks — •
Act of Parliament Clocks 445
CHAPTER VHL
MECHANISM OF CLOCKS AND WATCHES.
Pendulum — Striking Work — Watch Movements — Pendulum Watches —
Balance Springs — Hog's Bristle — Hooke — Huygens — Tompion —
Barrow — Le Count — Enamelled Balance Covers - Watch Cocks —
Pillars — Escapements — Watch Jewelling — Compensation — Winding
Mechanism— Self Winding— Pedometer Winding— Hall Marks . . 51S
CHAPTER IX.
FORMER CLOCK AND WATCH MAKERS ....... 544
^,
OLD CLOCKS AND WATCHES
AND THEIR MAKERS.
CHAPTER I.
TIME AN'D EARLY TIME RECORDERS.
As defined by the title, our subject may be said to begin with the
introduction of clocks ; and, although primitive methods of time-
keeping should not, perhaps, be passed over without notice, it will
be unnecessary to make more than a brief reference to them. It
may be convenient and useful to begin with some explanation of the
various time standards.
Solar Time. — Solar time is marked by the diurnal revolution of
the earth with regard to the sun, so that the instant the sun is seen at
its greatest height above the horizon it is true midday, which some-
times takes place i6 min. i8 sec. sooner, and at others 14 min.
28 sec. later, than twelve o'clock mean time. The diurnal rotation of
the earth on its axis might naturally be supposed to bring each
place to the meridian at regular intervals; this would be nearly the
case if the earth had no other movement ; but it advances at the
same time in its orbit, and as the meridians are not perpendicular
to the ecliptic, the days are not of equal duration. This may be
easily perceived by placing a mark at every 15° of the equator and
ecliptic on a terrestrial globe, as, by turning it to the westward, the
marks on the ecliptic, from Aries to Cancer, will come to the brazen
meridian sooner than the corresponding ones on the equator, those
from Cancer to Libra later, from Libra to Capricornus sooner, and
from Capricornus to Aries later ; the marks on the ecliptic and
equator only coming to the meridian together at Aries, Cancer,
Libra, and Capricornus. True and mean time do not agree though
on the days in which the sun enters these signs, in March, June,
c.w. B
2 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
September, and December, for the earth moves with greater rapidity
in December, when it is nearer the sun, than it does in July, when
it is farther from it. The regularity of the earth's motion is also
further disturbed by the attraction of the moon, Venus, and Jupiter.
True and mean agree about the 25th December, 15th April,
14th June, and 31st August; these coincidences vary slightly in
different years, because the earth takes about a quarter of a day
more than a year to complete a revolution in its orbit, and this
error accumulates from leap year till the fourth year, when the extra
day is taken in.
Sun-dials mark apparent time, while clocks measure equal or
mean time ; if, therefore, a timekeeper, perfectly regular in its
motion, were set to apparent solar time, it would be found to agree
with it only on four days in the year.
Cycle of the Sun. — A cycle of the sun is a period of twenty-eight
years, after which the days of the week again fall on the same days of the
month as during the first year of the former cycle. The cycle of the sun
has no relation to the sun's course, but was invented for the purpose
of finding the Dominical Letter which points out the days of the
month on which the Sundays fall during each year of the cycle.
Sidereal Time. — Sidereal time, the standard used by astronomers,
is measured by the diurnal rotation of the earth, which turns on its
axis in 23 hours 56 min. 4-1 sec. The sidereal day is therefore
3 min. 56 sec. less than the mean solar day, and a clock to show
sidereal time must have its pendulum a trifle shorter than a mean-
time clock with the same train. About the 15th of April the sidereal
clock and the mean-time clock would agree, but from that time
the divergence between the two would be increased each day by
3 min. 56 sec.
Mean-time clocks, though, can be regulated by the stars with
greater facility than by the sun, for the motion of the earth with
regard to the fixed stars is uniform, and a star will always appear at
the meridian 3 min. 56 sec. sooner than it did Oxi the preceding day.
In the absence of a transit instrument and a table giving the right
ascension of particular stars, choose a window having a southern
aspect, from which the steeple of a church, a chimney, or any other
fixed point may be seen. To the side of the window attach a thin
plate of brass having a small hole in it, in such a manner that by
looking through the hole towards the edge of the elevated object,
some of the fixed stars may be seen ; the progress of one of these
being watched, the instant it vanishes behind the fixed point a signal
Time and Eavly Time Recorders. 3
is made to a person observing the clock, who then notes the exact
time at which the star disappeared, and on tlie following night the
same star will vanish behind the same object 3 min. 56 sec. sooner.
If a clock mark ten liours when tlie observation is made, when the
star vanishes the following night it should indicate 3 min. 56 sec.
less than ten hours. If several cloudy nights have rendered it
impossible to compare the clock with the star, it will then be
necessary to multiply 3 min. 56 sec. by the number of days that
have elapsed since the observation, and the product deducted from
the hour the clock then indicates gives the time the clock ought to
show. The same star can only be observed during a few weeks, for
as it gains nearly one hour in a fortnight, it will, in a short time,
come to the meridian in broad daylight and become invisible ; to
continue the observation, another star must be selected. In making
the observation, care must be taken that a planet is not observed
instead of a star ; Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are those most likely
to occasion this error, more especially Saturn, which, from being
the most distant of the three, resembles a star of the first magnitude.
The planets may, however, be easily distinguished, for being com-
paratively near the earth, they appear larger than the stars ; their
light also is steady because reflected, while the fixed stars scintillate
and have a twinkling light. A sure means of distinguishing between
them is to watch a star attentively for a few nights ; if it change its
place with regard to the other stars it is a planet.
Duration of a Year. — The earth performs its revolution round
the sun in 365 days 6 hours 9 min., nearly, and this constitutes
the sidereal year. Owing to the precession of the equinoxes, the
sidereal year hardly accords with the seasons, and so the tropical, or
equinoctial, year is taken as 365 days 5 hours 48 min. 48 sec.
Among the Romans no regular account was taken of the difference
between the year and 365 days till b.c. 45. Then the surplus w^as
reckoned as six hours, making one day in four years ; and one day
was accordingly added to every fourth year. There still remained
the apparently trifling difference of 1 1 min. 11 sec. between the civil
and the tropical year ; this, however, produced an error of about
seven days in goo years. In 1582, Pope Gregory XII. struck out
ten days, which represented the accumulated error, from the calendar,
and it was decided that three leap years should be omitted every 400
years; thus, as 1600 was leap year, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900
were not, but 2000 will be leap year. This rectification was not
adopted in England till 1752, when eleven days were omitted from
B 2
4 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
the calendar. As our year still exceeds the true year, although by
an extremely small fraction, another leap year in addition to those
should be omitted once in 4000 years.
The Golden Number. — Meton, an Athenian astronomer, b c.
432, discovered that after a period of nineteen years the new and full
moons returned on the same days of the month as they had done
before ; this period is called the cycle of the moon. The Greeks
thought so highly of this calculation, that they had it written in
letters of gold, hence the name Golden Number ; and at the Council
of Nice, A.D. 325, it was determined that Meton's cycle should be
used to regulate the movable feasts of the Church.
The Epact. — The Epact serves to find the moon's age by showing
the number of days which must be added to each lunar year, in order
to complete a solar year. A lunar month is composed of 29 days
12 hours 44 min. 3 sec, or rather more than 29-5 days; 12 lunar
months are, therefore, nearly 1 1 days short of the solar year —
thus, the new moons in one year will fall 1 1 days earlier than they
did in the preceding year, so that were it new moon on ist January,
it would be nearly 11 days old on the ist of January of the ensuing
year, and 22 days on the third year ; on the fourth year it would be
33 ; but 30 days are taken off as an intercalary month (the moon
having made a revolution in that time), and the 3 remaining would be
the Epact ; the Epact thus continues to vary, until, at the expiration
of 19 years, the new moons again return in the same order as before.
The Number of Direction, — The Council of Nice decided,
A.D. 325, that Easter Day is always the first Sunday after the full
moon which happens upon or next after the 21st of March.
Easter Day, therefore, cannot take place earlier than the 22nd of
March or later than the 25th of April. The Number of Direction
is that day of the thirty-five on which Easter Sunday falls.
The Roman Indiction. — The Roman Indiction was a period of
fifteen years, appointed a.d. 312 by the Emperor Constantine for
the payment of certain taxes.
The Julian Period. — The Julian Period of 7980 years is the
product obtained by multiplying together 29, 19 and 15, which
numbers represent the cycles of the sun, the moon, and the Roman
Indiction. The beginning of the Julian Period is reckoned from
709 before the creation of the world, so that its completion will
occur A.D. 3267, until which time there cannot be two years having
the same numbers for three cycles.
Timekeepers are more immediately concerned with the
Time and Early Time Raoidcrs.
sub-(li\isions of a day. The Persians divided tlie day into twenty-
four hours, starting from sunrise ; the iVthenians began the day at
sunset ; the present civil day begins at midnight, and is divided into
two equal periods of twel\-e hours eacli, but astronomers reckon from
noon and count the hours continuously from i to 24.
Sun-Dials. — The simplest form of sun-dial, and a useful one for
setting a timekeeper when no standard is available for comparison,
is one for showing when the sun is on the meridian. With a time-
keeper showing mean time and an equation table, a meridian line
may, of course, be at once traced for future reference. In the absence
of these, the following, which are practically Ferguson's instructions,
may be followed : " Make four or five concentric circles, a quarter of
an inch from one another, on a flat stone, and let the outmost circle
be but little less than the stone
will contain. Fix a pin perpen-
dicularly in the centre, and of such
a length that its whole shadow
may fall within the innermost
circle for at least four hours in
the middle of the day. The pin
ought to be about an eighth of an
inch thick, with a round blunt
point. The stone being set exactly
level, in a place where the sun
shines, suppose from eight in the
morning till four in the afternoon,
about which hours the end of the shadow should fall without all
the circles ; watch the times in the forenoon when the extremity
of the shortening shadow just touches the several circles, and there
make marks. Then, in the afternoon of the same day, watch the
lengthening shadow, and where its end touches the several circles,
in going over them, make marks also. With a pair of compasses,
find exactly the middle points between the two marks on any circle,
and draw a straight line from the centre to that point, which line
will be covered at noon by the shadow of a small upricht wire,
which should be put in place of the pin. The reason for drawing
several circles is, that in case one part of the day should prove
clear, and the other part somewhat cloudy, if you miss the time
when the point of the shadow should touch one circle, you may
perhaps catch it in touching another."
By observation the hours of the morning and afternoon may also
Fig I.
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
be marked on the meridian dial, and it will be noticed that, although
the position of the hour immediately preceding corresponds with the
one immediately after noon, these divisions will not answer for any
of the remaining hours.
Curious Meridian Dial. — The very ingeniously contrived meri-
dian dial shown below and reproduced from L'Horlogerie by Joseph
Tk
mm 'ipf
2. — Curious Meridian Dial.
Rambal, formed part of St. Peter's Cathedral, Geneva, from 1760
till the renovation of the building in 1894, ^^^^ has since been
restored on the initiative of the Society of Arts. The white spot in
the centre of the disc's shadow not only indicates accurately solar
noon when it is bisected by the central vertical line, but also
approximately mean solar noon when it is centrally over a line of
the figure-of-8 loop which allows for the equation of time on each
Time and Early Time Recorders. y
particular clay. Tlie full line of the loop serves from June to
December, and the dotted line during the complement of the year.
As the year is not made up of a complete number of days, and a
day is interpolated every fourth year, the exact equation in each year
of the four is different ; still the approximate equation would be
practically sufficient for all but scientific purposes.
The art of dialling is somewhat complex. A glance at the figure
below will show why, except for places on the equator, the hour
spaces are not all equal. A sun-dial may be regarded as a circle
round the earth, or as the edge of a disc which passes through the
centre of the earth from the spot where the dial is fixed, a, b, c, d,
e,f,g, etc., are longitudinal circles, representing the hours, B the
Fig. 3.
spot where the dial is situated, D the corresponding latitude, P P
the poles, and E the centre of the earth.
A dial prepared for any particular place is useless for another
place in a different latitude, with the exception that a hoiizontal
dial for a certain latitude will be a vertical dial for a latitude
which is the complement of the first, or what it wants of 90'''. That
is, a horizontal dial for our latitude of 5ii''\ would have to be placed
in a vertical position facing the south in latitude 38|^.
Horizontal Sun-dial. — To set out a horizontal dial, first draw
two lines parallel to each other, at a distance equal to the thickness
of the gnomon which is to cast the shadow. Next, draw a line at
right angles to these, the extremities of which will indicate respec-
tively the hours of six in the morning and six in the evening. Then,
Old Clocks and Watches and ihcir Makers.
with A and B as centres (see Fig. 4), draw quadrants of circles, and
divide each into g6\ Now, assuming the dial to be for the latitude
of London, lay a rule over B, and draw the first line through ii|°,
the second through 24^°, third 38yV°> fourth 53!°, and fifth 7iyV°-
Proceed the same with the other side. Extend the afternoon hour
lines of four and five across the dial, and these will form the morning
hours, while eight and seven of the morning hours prolonged will
give the same evening hours. To form the style or gnomon, draw
a radial line through that degree of the quadrant which corresponds
to the latitude = 5i|°. This will show the elevation of the style.
Fig. 4. — Horizontal Sun-dial.
Fig. 5.— Dials at Whitehall, 1669.
which is here represented as if lying on the surface of the dial. The
thickness of the style must be equal to the distance between A and
B. Place the style truly upright on the dial, and it is finished.
A dial, or rather a series of dials of every conceivable description,
forming a structure, as shown in Fig. 5, was erected in Whitehall in
i66g, by order of Charles II. It was the invention of Francis Hall,
alias Line, a Jesuit and professor of mathematics at Liege. Vertical
dials, inclining dials, and dials for showing time as computed by
various nations at different periods were all included.
Of these, the bowls or brackets appear to be the most attractive.
One, on the first platform, to show the hour by fire, consisted of a
little trlass bowl filled with clear water. This bowl was about three
Time and liarlx Tiiuc Recorders.
inches diameter, placed in the middle of another sphere, about six
inches diameter, consisting of several iron rings or circles, repre-
senting the hour circles in the heavens. The hour was known by
applying the hand to these circles when the sun shone, and that
circle where you felt the hand burnt by the sunbeams passing
through the bowl lilled with water showed the true hour.
This curious erection had no covering ; exposure to the elements and
other destroying influences led to its speedy decay and subsequent
demolition. The engraving is taken from the Mirror, vol. xi\-.
The commonest form of portable dial is shown in Fig. 6.
When held to the sun, by means of the small ring at top,
a ray of light passed through a tiny hole and impinged on the inner
surface of the opposite side of the rim, which was engra\ed with
numerals corresponding to the hours of
daylight. The hole was formed in a
slide which covered a slit in the rim.
The slide could be moved higher or
lower, and signs of the zodiac were
engraved on the rim as a guide to its
position in different months of the year.
Dials of this sort were in general use
during the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. A small horizontal dial like
Fig. 4, but with a hinged style and a
compass attached, formed a more costly
pocket " horologium."
Clepsydrae, or Water Clocks. —
These indicate intervals of time by the passage of water, and may
be divided into two classes : the ancient recorders for hours of
\'arying length, and the more simple instruments used during and
after the seventeenth century, when equal hours were measured.
Clepsydrae are of remote antiquity. They were known by the
Egyptians, in Judea, Babylon, Chaldea, and Phoenicia, but these
contrivances for measuring time were of the simplest description.
They appear to have consisted each of a basin filled with water
and exposed in some niche or corner of a public place. At the
extreme end of the vessel was a spout or tap, from which trickled
the liquid, drop by drop, into a receiver having on its inside
marks for indicating the hours of the day and night.
In parts of Southern India was used a thin copper bowl about five
inches in diameter and rather deeper than half a sphere, having a
Fig. 6.
lO
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
very small hole in the bottom. The bowl, placed in a vessel con-
taining water and floating thereon, gradually filled. At the expira-
tion of an arranged interval it sank, and a boy or other watcher
then struck a gong, and thus announced the time. One of these
bowls is among the collection of the Horological Institute. It sinks
after the lapse of forty-five minutes with tolerable accuracy, but the
time is varied somewhat with the temperature of the water.
A form of clepsydra, said to have been in use in Egypt about
300 B.C., is shown in Fig. 7, for which I am indebted to Dr. Pearson's
article in Rees' Cyclopaedia. A supply of water ran through the
pipe H into the cone A, and from there dropped into the cylinder E.
A conical stopper B regulated the flow, and the superfluous
water escaped by the waste pipe I. The
Egyptians divided the period between
sunrise and sunset into twelve equal
hours, so that the conical stopper had to
be adjusted each day, and marks for every
day in the year, and for the particular
latitude of the place, were cut on the stalk
D as a guide to the position of the stopper.
A floating piston terminating in a rack
ser\ed to actuate a pinion, to the arbor of
which an hour hand was fixed.
In Fig. 8 is shown an improved clep-
sydra, constructed so that its aperture is
adjusted as the year advances by the
putting of an index to the sun's place in
an ecliptic circle. It consists, first, of a
reservoir A, to the top of which is attached
a waste pipe to carry off the superfluous water^ and thus keep it at
the same level. A pipe B projects from this vessel into the rim of
a drum M N, on the front of which is a circle with the signs
of the ecliptic engraved thereon. A smaller drum O F L passes
within the large one, having attached to it an index. This drum
has a groove or slot a h cut through it, tapering in breadth i^oth
ways to a point. When in its place, this tapering groove comes
just under the orifice of the pipe leading from the reservoir. This
inner drum turns on a pipe or tube F, which is continued within
and has a funnel at the end (not seen) for receiving the water as it
drops through the groo\e in the drum. The index is double,
L for day and O for night, and it will be evident that, as it is
Fig. 7.
Time and Enrlv Time Recorders.
II
turned, the capacity of the orifice is altered, and the water passes
more or less rapidly through the pipe. The ecliptic being pro-
perly divided, the hand was set to the proper sign in which the
sun then was, and was altered as he shifted round the ecliptic. The
water, thus regulated, dropped into a cylindrical vessel H, within
which was a float I, connected by a chain passing over a pulley on
an arbor P, and having a counterpoise K at its other end. This
pulley carried an index which pointed out the hours on a circle.
The next is ascribed to Ctesibius, the son of a barber, about
200 B.C. It was a self-adjusting machine, and is shown in Fig. g,
taken from the Horological Journal. The water dropped into a
funnel A, from the eyes of a figure placed over it, and connected
Fig. 8.
with a full reservoir, thus ensuring a constant pressure. The tube
conveyed the water into an open cylinder with a float and a light
pillar C attached. On the top of this pillar a human figure is
placed, which points to the divisions on a large column. As the
water rises in the cylinder, it also rises in the small tube or short leg
of a syphon F B E, till it reaches the top, when it flows over the
bent part, and quickly 'empties the cylinder, bringing down the
float, and with it the index to the starting-point. So far it would
have measured hours of equal length ; but the Egyptian method
required some further contrivance to accommodate it to hours of
varying length. This was done by drawing the divisions around
the large column out of a horizontal line, so as to vary in their
distance on different sides. The water as it came from the syphon
fell into a chambered drum K, which turned with the weight as
12
Old Clocks and ]]\itchcs and their Makers
each compartment became filled. On the axis of this drum was
placed a pinion gearing with a contrate wheel I, which, by another
pinion H, turned a wheel G, to the axis L of which the column Avas
fixed. The lines were drawn slanting round the column to suit the
hours of varying length throughout the year. The clepsydra was
introduced into Greece by Plato. The introduction of the clepsydra
into Rome took place about 157 b.c, by Scipio Nasica. Pliny tells
^.
Fig. g.
Fig. 10.
us that Pompey brought a valuable one among the spoils from the
eastern nations, which he made use of for limiting the speeches of
the Roman orators. Julius Cffisar is said to have met with an
instrument of the kind in England, by the help of which he
observed that the summer nights of this country are shorter than
they are in Italy.
With the decadence of Rome, when oraiiors had certain periods of
time allotted to them in the law courts for accusation or defence, the
clepsydra was often, it is said, tampered with in the interest of
Time ami luirly Time Rccordcys.
13
particular suitors by adding to or subtracting from the wax used in
the lawful regulation of the flow of water, or by using the fluid in
an impure condition.
In 807 a water clock of bronze inlaid with gold was presented by
the King of Persia to Charlemagne.
Gifford in his history of France says : " The dial was composed
of twelve small doors, which represented the hours ; each door
opened at the hour it was intended to represent, and out of it came
the same number of little balls, which fell one by one, at equal
intervals of time, on a brass drum. It might be told by the eye
what hour it was by the number of doors that were open, and by
the ear by the number of balls that fell. When it was twelve
si^^M
I !
Fig. lOA. — Section of Drum. Fig. ii.
Fig. iia.
o'clock twelve horsemen in miniature issued forth at the same time
and shut all the doors."
Hamburger, in Beckmann's " History of Inventions," dates the
revival of clepsydra^ to some time betv/een 1643 and 1646; and
Dr. Hutton asserts that in 1693 the first water clock was brought to
Paris from Burgundy.
Fig. 10 represents a clepsydra of the seventeenth century, con-
sisting of an oblong frame of wood, A B C D, to the upper part of
which two cords are fixed, their lower ends being wound round the
axis of the drum E. The drum is shown in section at Fig. ioa. It
has seven water-jtight metallic partitions, F /, G g, H //, I i, K k,
L /, and M m. If, now, the cord be wound around the axis until the
drum rises to the top of the frame, and the drum be left to obey the
force of gravity, it will of course tend to fall, and the cord resisting
14
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
this tendency will cause it to revolve rapidly as it descends. But if
we introduce water into the vessel, it will be retained in certain parts
of the circumference by these partitions, and, one side being thus
heavier than the other, the tendency to revolve will be counteracted,
and the drum will remain stationary. If now we pierce a small
hole near the bottom of each cell, the water will slowly ooze from
it into another, thus reducing the opposing weight of water, and
causing the drum slowly to revolve. The rate of motion being
properly regulated by altering the size of the apertures, the axis will
point out the hours on the side of the frame ; or a cord c d, with a
weight F, may be made to pass over a pulley attached to an arbor
Fig. 12.
Fig. 13.
bearing an index or hand to point out the hours on a circle properly
engraved or painted.
The sealed water drum with partitions was utilised in another
way which was described in Engineering some years ago, and
will be understood on reference to the front and side views (Figs.
II and iia). The drum A is suspended from two cords e e. An
index placed loosely on the end of the arbor a is weighted at
its lower end p. A grooved pulley b is fixed to the arbor and on it
hangs the hour ring R which is carried round by its adhesion to the
pulley /'.
A very simple form of clepsydra is shown in Fig. 12. It is merely
a glass vessel which has an orifice at the bottom, and is filled with as
much water as will flow out in exactly twelve hours, figures being
placed at the proper distances to denote the successive hours.
Fig. 13 shows an open vessel with a syphon attached to a float.
Time and Early Time Recorders.
15
The syphon will empty the vessel of the whole of the contained
fluid, and the pressure exerted, being equal to the difference in
length between the shorter and longer leg, remains always the same
in consequence of the float falling as the water falls.
The construction of clepsydra^ and of weight clocks went on
contemporaneously for a long period.
With the introduction of the pendulum,
clocks were made in which water acted as
the motor and a pendulum as the con-
troller. Such a clock was invented by
Perrault in i6gg. At the Royal Obser-
vatory, Greenwich, I remember seeing, a
few years ago, a water-driven clock with
a revolving pendulum, which was used
for driving the equatorial telescope. Water
at a pressure escaping from holes in a
pair of horizontal arms caused the arms
to revoh'e. One of the earliest steam
engines was made on this principle ; a
similar contrivance, under the name of a
sparger, has long been used by brewers
to sprinkle water on their malt, and more
recently a sprinkler of the same kind has
been adapted for w^atering gardens.
^A^ick and Lamp Timekeepers. —
Among the primitive timekeepers adopted
by Chinese and Japanese was a kind of
wick about two feet in length, made of
material resembling flax or hemp, which
underwent some process, so that when
ignited it would smoulder without break-
ing into a flame. Knots were tied at
particular distances, and the effluxion of
time estimated as the sections between
the knots smouldered away. Mons. Plan-
chon, of Paris, has one of these curiosities, which I am assured is
a genuine relic.
In Le Passe temps of Jehan Lhermite, who was born at Antwerp in
1560, and died at Madrid in 1622, having served as Gentleman of the
Chamber to Philippe II. of Spain, mention is made of a lamp time-
keeper to show the hours at night as among the contents of his
Fig. 14.
Old Clocks and U^atcJics and ilicir Makers.
Royal master's room. Fig. 14 is a drawing of what appears to be
a similar instrument in the Schloss collection. On a stand of
pewter is a glass reservoir, fastened with longitudinal slips of pewter,
on one of which are cast the hour numerals from 1 1 II at the top
downwards to XII, and then from I to VIII, thus covering the period
of darkness during winter. From the base of the reservoir extends
a nose to receive the wick, which,
when alight, illuminates the hour
band and the reservoir.
Lamp timekeepers of this
kind were, I am told, to be met
with occasionally in German
and Dutch outlying country
dwellings till a comparati-vely
recent date.
Sand Glasses. — These, con-
sisting of two glass bulbs joined
by an intervening neck, measure
a pre-arranged period by the
falling of fine sand from the
upper into the lower bulb, and
are of considerable antiquity. In
Fig. 15 is shown a handsome
specimen of the sixteenth cen-
tur}'. Great care seems to have
been taken in the preparation of
the sand. According to a pre-
scription in Le Maiagiev de Paris,
"pour faire sablon a mettre es
orloges " ground black marble
dust was to be boiled in wine,
and, after Deing thoroughly
dried, to be ground again, the process to be repeated about nine
times.
' To this day a sand glass is used in the House of Commons to
measure certain intervals, and in comparatively recent times it was
not uncommon to see a preacher, as he began his discourse, turn a
sand glass attached to the pulpit.
Fig. 15.
( 17 )
CHAPTER II.
WEIGHT CLOCKS,
So many vague and contradictory records exist as to the invention
of clocks composed of an assemblage of wheels actuated by a weight,
that any attempt to fix the exact date of their introduction would
be mere guesswork.
It is claimed that Pacificus, Archdeacon of \'erona, who died in
the middle of the ninth century, devised a clock which Bailly, in his
" History of Modern Astronomy," considers was furnished with an
escapement ; but this is not substantiated, and otlier authorities
decide that it was a water clock. Charlemagne's clepsydra which
sounded the hours is also sometimes erroneously referred to as a
weight clock.
In Stow's "Chronicles," under date 606, it is stated: "This year
dyed St. Gregory ; he commanded clocks and dials to be set up in
churches to distinguish the houres of the day." These were
probably sun-dials, and Stow's introduction of the word clocks is
therefore unwarranted. The Latin "horologium" or the Italian
" orologio " was used indiscriminately for sun-dials, clepsydrae, and
other timekeepers. Clocks other than sun-dials were also designated
nocturnal dials to distinguish them from those which showed the
hour by the solar shadow only.
Havard says there is hardly a word in the French language that
underwent so many transformations as the word horloge. It assumed
in turn reloge, ovoloige, ovloge, orelogc, ologe, and even aiiloge, before
arriving at hovlog:. In an inventory of Charles V. made in 1380,
a reference is found of " ung grand orloge de mer," consisting
of " deux grans fiolles (flasks) plains de sablon." In other words,
an hour glass.
The French equivalent for dial has been for several centuries
cadvan. But at one time, hcnriey, from heiire, the hour, appears
to have served. Richard, Archbishop of Reims, at the Chateau
de Porte Mars, in 1389, refers to "ung petit orloge a ung heurier
de cuivre peint en vert, prix IIII. livres p.," that is: a small
c.w. c
i8 Old Clocks and Watches and tlicir Makers.
clock with a dial of copper painted in green colour, price 4 livres
parisis.
Gerbert, a monk, afterwards Pope Sylvester II., placed a clock in
Magdeburg Cathedral at the end of the tenth century ; but Dithmar
declares it was only a kind of sun-dial ; other writers consider
Gerbert to be the originator of the escapement. \\'hatever may be
inferred, there is no absolute proof that an escapement was con-
structed for more than two centuries after Gerbert's time, though it
is pretty certain that clocks of some sort existed in cathedrals and
monasteries during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The word "clock," whether derived from the Sdcaon clugga, the
Teutonic glocke, the Latin glocio, or the French cloche, signified " a
bell," and there is reason to suppose that many of the early efforts
consisted merely of a bell sounded at regular intervals by hand, the
instant of ringing being determined by a sun-dial or sand-glass.
In monasteries prayers were recited at certain fixed hours of the
night as well as of the day, and as the monks were not always
unfettered by sleep at the needful moment, this horologe or alarum
was probably invented to rouse the drowsy religicux to a due sense
of his duties. In the "Rule" of the monks of Citeaux, drawn up
about 1 1 20, and quoted by Calmet, the duty is prescribed to the
sacristan of so adjusting the abbey clock that it may strike and
awake the monks for matins. Durandus, in the thirteenth century,
alludes to the clock as one of the essential features of a church.
Dante, who was born in 1265 and died in 1321, mentions an
" orologia " which struck the hours ; and Chaucer, who was born in
1328 and died in 1400, speaks of the cock crowing as regularly as
clock or abbey horologe.
Berthoud considered it likely that a revolving fly was used as a
controller prior to the invention of an escapement.
Captain Smyth, R.N. (Archaologia, vol. xxxiii.), suggests that John
Megestein of Cologne, who is spoken of as having improved clocks
in the fourteenth century, was possibly the inventor of the escape-
ment. Still it is only surmise.
An early clock often referred to is the one which was presented by
Saladin of Egypt to the Emperor Frederick II. of Germany, in the
year 1232. It is described as resembling internally a celestial globe,
in which figures of the sun, moon, and other planets, formed with
the greatest skill, moved, being impelled by weights and wheels.
There were also the twelve signs of the Zodiac, with appropriate
characters, which moved with the firmament.
11 'd'/;;/// Clocks. 19
In 1359 John II. of France, then a prisoner in London, desirous of
measuring the time, addressed himself to "the King of the Minstrels"
to whom was delegated the task of entertaining this royal personage,
and in the Journal de la depense dn roy Jean the following occurred : —
" Dymenche XII. jour de Janvier le roy des menestereulx, sur la fa9on
de I'auloge qu'il fait pour le roy, VII. nobles ^•alent CXIII. sols X.
deniers et a promis que parmi cette somme et XX sols, qui paravant li
ont este haillier le VI. de Janvier, il rendra I'auloge parfait,' the trans-
lation of which is that on the 12th January, Sunday, the king of the
minstrels was paid for making a clock for the King seven " nobles "
worth 113 sous and 10 derniers, and promised, having already
been lent on the 6th January the sum of 29 sous, to deliver the
clock in perfect condition.
Jacks. — Mechanical figures for striking the hour on bells seem to
liave been in use before the introduction of dials, and they proved to
be a lasting attraction. There was, prior to 1298, a clock at St.
Paul's Cathedral with such figures ; and Decker, in his " Gull's
Hornbook," calls them "Paul's Jacks." In the accounts of the
cathedral for the year 1286, allowances to Bartholomo Orologiario
the clock-keeper are entered, namely, of bread at the rate of a loaf
daily. In 1344 the dean and chapter entered into a contract with
Walter the Orgoner of Southwark to supply and fix a dial, from
which it may be inferred that the clock pre\iously had no dial. In
Dugdale's history of the old cathedral the dial is referred to as
follows : " Somewhat above the stonework of the steeple was a fine
dial, for which there was order taken in the i8th of Edward III.,
that it should be made with all splendour imaginable, which was
accordingly done ; having the image of an angel pointing to the
hours both of the day and night." The dial was placed below the
"Jacks," which were not ousted from office, but continued to strike
the hour with their accustomed regularity. Decker says " the time
of St. Paul's goes truer by fi\e notes than St. Sepulchre's chimes.
Other writers confirm the supposition that dials were absent from
most of the early clocks. M. Viollet le Due (" Dictionnaire Raisonne
de i' Architecture Fran9aise") observes that from the twelfth to the
fourteenth centuries no space was arranged in the towers of churches
for dials which could be seen at a distance. The earliest dials, he
says, were covered by small projecting roofs and made either of wood
or lead and decorated in colours.
Froissart, who had an affection for clocks, speaks of one which
existed at Courtray prior to 1370 as the largest which had then been
c 2
20
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
made. It was brought from thence with other spoils of war in 1382,
by Philip, Duke of Burgundy, who presented it to the people of
Dijon. The clock was surmounted with his crest, and set up at
Dijon in a tower of the Church of Notre Dame. In a turret over it
Fig. 16. — Jacquemarts at Dijon.
Fig. 17. — "Jack the Smiter,
Southwold Church.
were a bell and the figures of a man and woman, one on each side,
which struck the hours, as shown in Fig. 16. To the present day
these automata are locally called /czr(///f/;/rtr/5, and G. Peignot, author
of a dissertation on them, contended that they received their name
from Jacquemart, a clock and lock maker of Lille, who was employed
Wciisht Cloch.
21
bv the Duke of Bui'fijundy in the year 1442. The appellation,
liowever, seems to he merely a corruption of Jacconiavchiadus, i.e.,
a man in a suit of armour. During the middle ages it was the
custom to place as sentries on the belfries on tops of towers mailed
men to watch over the safety of castles and towers, and their office
was to give alarm at the approach of an enemy, a fire or other
disturbing event. And at many castles in luuope till (juite late in
the seventeenth century a trumpeter was posted en a tower to
Fig. 18. — Jacks at Rye.
announce by a blast on his instrument the time of day for meals to
be served.
In Fig. 17 is shown a "Jack" which, though not on active service,
is still in Southwold Church. It is an oak figure, three feet six
inches in height, of a man clad in armour, and is said to date from
early in the fifteenth century. Locally it is known as "Jack the
Smiter." The engraving is from a photograph by Mr. J. Martyn,
Southwold. At the Parish Church, Rye, Sussex, is a clock said to
have been the gift of Queen Elizabeth. This may be so, but the
hands are certainly of much later date, atid the movement has
undergone reconstruction, for it is now fitted with a pendulum
which beats but once in two seconds and a half, and projects below
22
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
the clock into the church. Fig. i8, from a photograph by Mr.
W. L. F. Wastell, shows the dial surmounted by a canopy, under
which stand two Jacks, which strike the quarters on small bells.
Between these two figures, within an ornamental border, is a label
thus inscribed: ''For our time is a very shadow that passeth away.
Wisdom I. 5." An excellent
representative of striking Jacks
exists at the Church of St. Mary
Steps, Exeter ; there is a pair
at York Cathedral, and a pair,
from Glastonbury, at Wells ; a
pair, formerly on the eastern
wall of St. Martin's Church,
Oxford, has lately been restored
and placed upon the tower of
the church ; the quarters are
struck by Jacks at All Saints'
Church, Leicester, where the
clock, which is said to date
from the time of James I., was
restored in 1899; in the tower
of Holy Trinity Church, Bristol,
which was demolished in 1787,
was a pair ; and in a recess of
the south aisle of Norwich
Cathedral were two small Jacks
which, actuated by wires from
the clock, struck the quarters on
adjacent bells. Of the Exeter
Jacks, and two at the Church
of St. Dunstan's, Fleet Street,
which were dear to Londoners
of the last century, I shall be
able to give engravings.
The peculiar clock shown in Fig. 19 appears to be a sixteenth cen-
tury production. There are three trains of wheels, all arranged to
face the sides of the clock. The clock is twelve inches wide, eleven
inches high, nine inches from front to back, and two feet two and a
half inches from the bottom of the clock to the top of the figure.
By means of wires at the back, which extend to levers actuated by
the striking and quarter trains, the figure on top of the clock strikes
Fig. 19. — Portable Clock, with
Striking Jack.
JW-ifl'Jit Clocks. 23
the hours on the large bell with the large hammer in his hands, and
at the quarters kicks the two small bells with his heels.
In the early part of the fourteenth century, a large stone tower
was built in Palace Yard, opposite to Westminster Hall, and a clock
placed therein whicli struck every hour upon a great bell. There is
a tradition that in tlie sixteenth year of the reign of Edward I.
(1298) the Lord Chief Justice Randulphus de Hengham, having
made an alteration in a record, was fined 800 marks by the king's
order, and the money was applied to defray the cost of erecting a
public clock opposite the entrance to Westminster Hall. The first
official mention of Hengham's punishment extant appears to be in a
Year Book of the time of Richard III., where it is stated that on
an occasion when the king closeted the judges in the Inner Star
Chamber to consider various points submitted to them, one of the
judges cited the case of Hengham, and said the offence consisted of
altering a record so that a poor defendant might have to pay but
65. 8d. instead of 135. 4^., but nothing is said respecting the building
of a clock. Stow, who was born in 1525 and died in 1605, in his
"Account of Westminster" (vol. ii. p. 55) states that the clock was
provided from Hengham's fine ; and the Hon. Daines Barrington,
in an interesting letter to Mr. Justice Blackstone in 1778 {Anhaologia,
vol. V.) accepts the tradition, which is very possibly well founded,
although it must be confessed that the evidence on the point is not
conclusive. In an Issue Roll of the forty-fourth year of the reign
of Edward III. is recorded the payment of two pounds to John
Nicole, keeper of the great clock of the king within the Palace of
Westminster, being his wages for eighty days at the rate of sixpence
a day. In subsequent reigns further references are made to the
keeper of this clock. In the first year of Henry V. was granted a
patent to "Henricus Berton Valectus camerae Regis custos horologii
Regis infra Palatium \\'estm. pro vita, cum feed. \T. dem per diem."
Henry VI. entrusted its custody to William Warby, Dean of St.
Stephen's, together with sixpence a day remuneration. The tower
was standing in the time of Elizabeth, for Judge Southcote mentions
the tradition, stating that the clock still remained which had been
made out of the Chief Justice's fine. The engraving which I
am enabled to give of this interesting erection is from the Mirror,
vol. xi., which was published in 1825. The sketch is copied
from an engraving by Hollar, who was born in 1607 and died in
1677. It doubtless represents the locality as it existed about the
middle of the seventeenth century, shortly after which time the
24
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
tower was pulled down, but the exact date of its destruction is
unknown.
On the old Houses of Parliament, which were destroyed by fire
in 1834, a dial on the second pediment of the buildings in Palace
Yard marked the site, the remarkable motto on which, " Discite
Justitiam Moniti," may be taken to relate to its origin. The clock
tower of the present home of our Legislature is, it is conjectured.
Fig. 20. — Clock Tower in Palace Yard, Westminster.
but a few paces from the situation of the original clock. The great
bell, "Tom of \\'estminster," was broken up and re-cast for the
St. Paul's Cathedral clock, of which more particulars will be given
later on.
There was a large clock in Canterbury Cathedral at the end of
the thirteenth century, which, according to Dart's history of the
sacred edifice, was put up at a cost of ^"30 in 1292, and one at
Exeter at the beginning of the fourteenth century.
An " orologium " of some kind was under construction at Norwich
Weight Clocks. 25
Cathedral in 1323. From that date numerous entries relating to it
occur in the Sacrist's Rolls. There were twenty-four small images,
which it may be conjectured represented the hour of the day and
night ; thirty images, probably corresponding to the days of the
month, and also painted and gilded plates portraying the sun
and moon.
About 1326 Richard Wallingford, Abbot of Saint Albans, placed
a " horologe " in his monastery, and the account which he gave of
his machine is still preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
From this, Wallingford's conception really appears to have been
more of a planetarium for showing the course of the heavenly
bodies than a timekeeper, for his description contains no mention of
any escapement or regulator for ensuring equable motion.
The earliest clock worthy of our modern definition, of which we
have any authentic details, is the one which is said to have been
made about the year 1335, by Peter Lightfoot, an ingenious monk
of Glastonbury Abbey, for and at the expense of his superior, Adam
de Lodbury, who was promoted to the Abbacy of Glastonbury in
1322 and died in 1335. The fourteenth century was distinguished
by the introduction of the peculiar class of clocks which, besides
mdicating the flight of time, were furnished with mechanism for
other purposes. One of the earliest of this kind was described by
Viollet le Due as having been given about the year 1340 to the
monastery of Cluny by the Abbot Pierre de Chastelux. In addition
to its indication of the phases of the moon, the movements of the
sun, etc., this clock had a quantity of little figures which acted
various scenes, as " The Mystery of the Resurrection," " Death,"
etc. The hours were announced by a cock, which fluttered its wings
and crowed twice. At the same time an angel opened a door and
saluted the Virgin Mary, the Holy Ghost descended on her head in
the form of a dove, God the Father gave her His benediction, a
musical carillon chimed, animals shook their wings and moved their
eyes ; at last the clock struck, and all retreated within it.
From a horological point of view such marionette exhibitions may
be puerile and contemptible ; still they caught and held the popular
fancy, their producers being as a rule more honoured than those
who merely strove after exactness of timekeeping.
Horological construction of this kind was not confined to the
western part of Europe. Anent the wonders in the Palace of Abu
Hammou, Sultan of TIemcen, the Abbe Barges, a French scholar
and Orientalist, speaks of a clock in the king's palace, ornamented by
26 Old Clocks and Watches and ilicir Makers.
figures wrought in solid silver. Above the case containing the
works was a scene representing a thicket in which was a bird
spreading its wings over its young. A serpent stealthily crawled
out of its hiding place towards the birds, endeavouring to surprise
and devour them. Ten doors introduced in the forepart of the clock
represented the ten hours of the night. At the end of each hour
one of these doors creaked and shook. Two wider and higher doors
occupied the lateral extremity of the case. Above these doors and
near the cornice, a sphere of the moon moved in the direction of the
equatorial line and indicated the course of this heavenly body. At
the commencement of each hour, when one of the smaller doors
rattled, an eagle swooped out of each of the two bigger doors and
settled on a copper vase or basin, dropping into it a piece of metal — ■
also copper — which they had carried in their beaks. These weights,
which glided into a cavity introduced at the bottom of the ^'ase,
dropped into the interior of the clock, subsequently rising again
when required. Then the serpent, which by that time had wound
itself up to the top of the thicket, emitted a sharp hiss, pounced upon
and bit one of the young birds, its mother meanwhile squeaking
and endeavouring to defend it. At this moment the door which
marked the time opened by itself, a young female slave appeared,
and in her right hand presented an open book whereon the name of
the hour could be read in verses. She held her left hand up to her
lips as if to salute a khalifa. This clock was named in Arabic
" Menganah," and was first seen in 1358.
The first of the celebrated Strasburg Cathedral clocks was begun
about 1350, under the direction of John, Bishop of Lichtenberg.
Henry Wieck, of Wiirtemberg, constructed a clock for Charles V.
of France, surnamed the Wise, and it was erected at Paris in the
Royal Palace (now the Palais de Justice). Henry Wieck, or, as he
was afterwards known, Henry De Vick, began his task in 1370 and
completed it eight years after. He was lodged in the tower
and received six sous parisis per day during the time he was
employed. Somewhat similar clocks were, probably about the same
time, erected at Caen and Montargis, though some French writers
assert that the Caen clock was made by one Beaumont in 13 14. In
Rymer's " Fcedera " there is printed a protection given by King
Edward HI. of England to three Dutchmen named John Lietuyt,
John Uneman and William Uneman, who were " orologiers,"
invited from Delft to England in 1368. The title of this protection
' is, " De Horlogiorum Artificio exercendo." There were probably
]]'ci<:ht Clocks.
27
also English artificers practising their craft at the same time as that
of the issue of the decree which gave tlie Dutchmen protection, for
that document enacted that the English artificers should not be
molested. The "horologium" of John Dondi, constructed at Padua
in 1344 by order of Hubert, Prince of Carrara, seems also to have
been a true clock. It is described as being placed on the top of a
turret on the steeple, and designating the twenty-four hcnirs of the
day and night. De Maizieres,
a contemporary writer, says it
was visited by all the scientific
men of the day, and from
thenceforward the family of
Dondi took the name of " Dondi
d'Orologia." He also speaks of
Joseph Dondi, apparently a son
of John, as one who excelled in
clockmaking, and after sixteen
years' labour constructed a
sphere or clock governed by a
single balance, and which cor-
rectly showed the motion of the
celestial bodies. John Visconti,
Archbishop of Milan, set up a
clock at Genoa in 1353 ; in 1356
one was fixed at Bologna.
Froissart has left a descrip-
tive eulogium of a clock, written
in 1370 in the form of a frag-
mentary poem, entitled "I'Hor-
loge Amoureuse." In this the
controlling medium is referred
to as a " foliot," which was
doubtless the straight armed
balance with weights such as
appears in the drawing of De Vick's clock presently to be described.
In 1389 a splendid clock, made by Jehan de Fealins, was erected at
Rouen, which with some modern alterations to the movements is
still a reliable timekeeper, showing the hours and also the days of the
week and the phases of the moon. The handsome dial shown in
Fig. 21 is about six feet square. At Spires, in Bavaria, there was a
clock in the year 1395. Dr. Helein describes a complicated clock
Fig. 21. — Clock at Rouen.
DIctioiiiiaire de V Ameubkment.
28 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
which at the end of the fourteenth century was erected at Lund, in
Sweden. When the hours were struck, two knights came forward,
and gave each other as many blows as the number of the hour ; a
door then opened and showed the Virgin Mary, seated on a throne
with the infant Jesus in her arms. The Magi then presented their
offerings, during which trumpets sounded, and the figures dis-
appeared. From the beginning of the fifteenth century mathema-
ticians, astronomers and mechanicians throughout Europe vied with
each other in contriving timekeepers with various supplementary
actions. In 1401 a large clock with bells was placed in the
Cathedral of Seville, and in 1404 a similar one for Moscow was
constructed by Lazare, a Servian. The clock of Lubeck was made
in 1405 and one at Pavia by G. Visconti a little later. In 1442
Nuremberg had a clock with figures to represent soldiers which
went through evolutions periodically. The Auxerre clock was
finished in 1483, and shortly after an astronomical clock was erected
at Prague ; the clock at Munich dates from the same period. The
first monumental timekeeper in the Square of St. Mark's, Venice,
was put up in 1495. Among clocks of the sixteenth century may
be cited one at Brussels, one at Berne, the latter constructed in 1557
by Gaspard Brunner, having performing soldiers something in the
style of the Nuremberg one; "Hans of Jena," in which a pilgrim
ofifered an apple to an immense open-mouthed grotesque head as the
hours struck ; the clock at Coblentz, where, in the belfry of the
Kaufliaus, was fixed a large helmeted head, the mouth of which
opened and shut as the hours were sounded ; an astronomical clock
at Beauvais Cathedral, of thirty-six feet in height and having fifty
dials ; the second great Strasburg clock, which was begun in 1570 ;
a clock with numerous mechanical figures set up at Niort, in Poitou,
the same year ; a clock at Calais, with two figures which attacked
each other as in the Lund clock ; and the celebrated Lyons clock
which dates from 1598. These are but some of the more notable
clocks erected up to the close of the sixteenth century, by which
time nearly every town in Europe had at least one public timekeeper
of some pretensions. Of several typical ones among those enumerated
I am enabled to give fuller particulars.
The Glastonbury ancient and complicated piece of machinery
was, according to William of W^orcester, originally in the south
transept of the abbey church ; but it was removed with all its
appendages from thence to W^ells Cathedral at the time of the
dissolution of the monastery in the reign of Henry VIII., where,
^'cis'ht Clocks.
29
in an old chapel in the north transept, it still remains. The face of
the clock as it now appears is shown in Fig. 22. The dial is six
feet six inches in diameter, and contained in a square frame, the
spandrels of which are filled with angels, holding in their hands
each the head of a man. The outer band is painted blue, with gilt
stars scattered over it, and is divided into twenty-four parts,
corresponding with the twenty-four hours of the day and night, in
two divisions of twelve hours each. The horary numbers are
Fig. 22. — Dial of Glastonbury Clock.
painted in old English characters, on circular tablets, and mark the
hours from twelve at noon to midnight, and from thence to twelve
at midday again. The hour-index, a large gilt star, is attached to
the machinery behind a second circle, which conceals all except
the index. On this second circle are marked the minutes, indicated
by a smaller star. A third and lesser circle contains numbers for
indicating the age of the moon, which is marked by a point attached
to a small circular opsning in the plate, through which the phases
of the moon are shown. Around this aperture is an inscription, not
30 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
very intelligible, which one author reads as " Ab hinc monstrat
micro , . . ericus archery pung," meaning, probably, that in this
microcosm were displayed all the wonders of the vast sidereal
hemisphere. Corresponding to the moon aperture on the opposite
side of the centre is a circle, in which is a female figure, with the
motto " Semper peragrat Phoebe." An arched pediment surmounts
the whole, with an octangular projection from its base line, forming
a cornice to the face of the clock. A panelled turret is fixed in the
centre, around which four equestrian knights, equipped for a
tournament and mounted on two pieces of carved wood, used to
revolve in opposite directions, two on each side, as if running at the
ring in a tilt, when set in motion by a connection with the clock.
The figure of a man seated at one angle of the transept, within the
church, is connected by rods with the clock, and he is made to
strike the quarters with his feet on two little bells, and the hours on
another bell before him with a battle-axe 'that is in his hands. If
the date of the construction of the clock be correct, the figures at
present moved by its machinery cannot, according to J. R. Planche,
be the original ones, or they have undergone strange alteration.
Those that circulated in a sort of tilting match are very clumsily
carved, and have suffered some injury from time ; but two of them
appear to be intended for jesters ; one wears a hood with ears to it ;
the third is a nondescript ; but the fourth is painted in the civil
costume of the reign of James or Charles I., with falling collar,
striped doublet, and the peaked beard and moustache of that period.
Two figures that strike the quarters on bells on the outside with
their battle-axes are in armour of the fifteenth century, and the time
of Henry VI. or Edward IV.
The old interior works of this clock were of iron, not differing
materially in principle from the mechanism of much later date
clocks, except that the appliances for the variety of the movements
of the dial-plate were necessarily complicated. They exhibited a
rare and interesting specimen of the art of clockmaking at so early
a period, in which the monks particularly excelled. After going for
nearly five centuries, the works were found to be so completely worn
out that, about the year 1835, they were replaced by a new train.
The old movement, now controlled by a pendulum, may be seen in
action at South Kensington Museum. Except for the quarter
striking part and the lunation work, the movement is identical with
that of De Vick's clock, presently to be described.
Another clock attributed to Lightfoot was erected at Wimborne
U't'i^^^ht Clucks.
31
in Dorsetshire. The dial as it at present appears is represented in
I'ig. 22, and an examination will show many features in common
with these two fourteenth-century clocks.
Figs. 24, 25 and 26 represent De Vick's clock in front and in
profile. There was but one hand, and that in its revolution round
a dial-plate indicated the hours. A heavy weight tied to a rope,
which was wound round a cylinder or barrel, served as the power to
Fig. 23. — Dial of Wimborne Clock.
cause the hand to revolve ; but the hand, instead of being fixed to
the axis of the barrel, had its motion communicated through a
wheel and pinion, so that the weight did not need to be wound
up so frequently as would otherwise be the case. If the weight
were freely subjected to the influence of gravity, its motion would
have been accelerated, and so an escapement and controller had to
be devised in order that all the spaces traversed by the hand should
32
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
be passed through in the same time as each other. The device
adopted to check the progress of the Aveight was as follows; Con-
nected with the arbor carrying the hand is a spindle carrying a
— Qj > c a>
, barre
hamm
for dri
, cou
T, lev
ork.
O
tes; C
g the
inion
2l; N
plate;
king w
»
1)
>
nj
.iS c u< 5 ^-v
<3J
P-,
A,B, p
or rais
fly; /,
nt wh
lockin
g off st
C
• -^ 3 1- C
weight
f, pins
tail; L
ing CO
wheel 0
for letti
(S
o
Ph
fe
oj > a
2'S. O
J-
bo^ -^
— ■- = S o
.=: -I'o.
_ CD_C| c 'w
"S rt f ^ —
Ui tnO 0< 5
a
wheel with ratchet-shaped teeth, as will be seen from Fig. 24. This
wheel, called the "escape wheel," has an odd number of teeth, and
on a vertical rod or "verge" are two beds or "pallets," of a
]Vci((Jif Clocks. ^^
distance from each other equal to the diameter of the wheel. The
actin<^ faces of these pallets form nearly a ri^^ht an<,de, and the
ver<j:e is planted close to the teeth of the wheel, so that one of the
projecting pallets is always intercepting the path of the wheel teeth.
In this way an alternating rotary motion is imparted to tl:e verge,
the escape wheel slipping by a space equal to half the distance
between two teeth at every alternation. The action of the teeth
of the wheel on the pallets will perhaps be better understood by a
reference to Fig. 27, which is drawn to an enlarged scale. A tooth
of the escape wheel is pressing on the upper pallet ; as it drops off
; yfcW-X-- ■ ■ ■ .(
Fig. 27. — Verge escapement with cross-bar or
"foliot '" balance.
the under tooth will reach the root of the lower pallet, but the
motion of the verge will not be at once reversed. The escape wheel
will recoil until the impetus of the cross-bar and weights mounted
on the verge is exhausted. The teeth of the wheel are undercut to
free the face of the pallet during the recoil. The inertia of the
cross-bar and weights, by opposing the rotary motion, forms the
regulator, and as the centre of gyration may be altered by shifting
the weights along the bar, the time occupied by each vibration can
be increased or lessened, as may be required. The verge was
usually suspended by a cord to lessen the friction and wear at the
pivot or "toe" on which it rested. This controller, the foliot of
Froissart, admirable as it was, did not give anything like the
c.w. D
34 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
exact result now attained by means of a superior escapement and
pendulum, for its constancy was seriously affected through varia-
tions in the motive force, such as would be caused by deterioration
and thickening of the lubricant used to the pivots and bearing
surfaces. It is, however, curious to note that the balance of a
modern chronometer or watch, which vibrates with such marvellous
accuracy, is analogous in its action to that of the early cross-bar
regulator.
To understand the way the weight was raised after the rope was
uncoiled from the barrel, it may be necessary to explain that, though
the great wheel is tight on its arbor, the barrel on the same arbor
is loosely fitted, the connection between the two being established
by means of a ratchet-wheel and click. To lessen the labour of
winding, a wheel is attached to the barrel, into which a pinion
gears, and on the squared extremity of the pinion arbor the winding
handle is placed. The different parts are shown and lettered in
Fig- 24-
The manner of striking the hours in regular order will be apparent
from Figs. 25 and 26, with a little explanation. The striking part
of the clock is distinct from the going part, and is actuated by a
separate weight. It occupies the right in Fig. 25. The wheel to
which the hand is attached turns once in twelve hours, and it will
be observed that, projecting from its face, are twelve pins, equidistant
from each other. Although continually solicited by the weight, the
striking train of wheels cannot turn except once at each hour,
because it is locked by a tooth at one extremity of a " bell-crank "
lever, T, engaging with one of a series of notches in the locking-
plate, N. At the completion of each hour this tooth is lifted out by
one of the twelve pins depressing the other end of the lever, and
the striking train then rotates till the tooth of the lever falls into the
next notch of the locking-plate. The tail of the hammer which
strikes the bell intersects the path of the lifting pins, c, which are
arranged around the great wheel of the striking train. The notches
around the edge of the locking-plate are placed at such distances
that at one o'clock the tooth enters a notch directly one blow has
been struck on the bell. At the next hour there is a longer space
before a notch is reached, and so two blows are struck before the
train is again locked ; at the succeeding hour the space permits of
three blows, and so on, till at twelve o'clock the plate has made a
complete rotation, and the action of the preceding twelve hours
recurs. The striking train would run down with increasing velocity
]Vcii>Iit Clocks.
35
but for the fan L, which keeps the periods between the strokes of
the bell practically uniform. This is the principle of the striking
Fig. 2S. — Clock of the Palais de Justice, Paris.
work still used in most turret clocks, and till recently in nearly all
small clocks of French make. The chief objection to it is that the
hours are struck in regular progression without reference to the
D 2
36 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
position of the hands ; so that if the striking part happens to run
down before the going part, the striking will be all wrong when it is
started again, unless the precaution has been taken to set it going at
the same hour as that at which it stopped.
Fig. 28 shows the dial of De Vick's clock and its splendid sur-
roundings, adjoining the side of the Palais de Justice, which faces
the Quai aux Fleurs. Though the clock appears to have been
erected in the round tower of the palace in 1370, the present archi-
tectural environment was not completed till 1585. The engraving
is from " Les Merveilles de I'Horlogerie." The figures of Piety and
Justice flanking the dial, and the angels supporting the coat of arms
which crowns the pediment, are by Germaine Pilon. On the upper
tablet is the inscription, " Qui dedit ante duas triplicem dabit ille
coronam." The panel below the dial perpetuates the quotation from
Passerat : —
" Machina que bis sex tarn juste dividit horas,
Justitiam ser\-are monet legesque tueri."
This celebrated clock has experienced several long intervals of
neglect, and been many times repaired. In 1852, after thorough
examination, its defects were made good, and it was in some
measure reconstructed. The bell on which the hours are struck
was cast by John Jouvance, and it is said that upon this bell was
repeated the signal from St. Germain I'Auxerrois for the massacre
of St, Bartholomew in 1572, The bell for the Montargis clock was
also made by Jouvance.
A turret clock which was erected at Dover Castle in the fourteenth
century is still in action at South Kensington Museum. In con-
struction it is somewhat similar to those of Lightfoot and de Vick.
On the wrought-iron frame are the letters R.L. arranged as a
monogram. The train, however, consists of only one wheel, which
drives the escape-pinion so fast that there must have been either a
very long driving-cord, or the clock must have been wound at
frequent intervals. The winding is accomplished by means of
handles or spokes projecting radially from one end of the barrel,
which runs freely on the arbor of the wheel. On the face of the
barrel which is nearest the wheel is a spring click, catching into
the arms of the wheel, the arms thus serving the purpose of a
ratchet. This click and ratchet arrangement was long favoured
by some makers, and is often found in lantern clocks of the
seventeenth century. The wheels of these early clocks were of
wrought iron, the arms being riveted into the rim. A clock very
Weii^ht Clocks.
37
similar to the Dover one was erected at Peterborough about the
same date.
Exeter Clocks. — Few places probably can show more interesting
relics of primitive horology than Exeter. " From the patent rolls
of Edward IE," the kite Mr. Britton observes, in his description of
Exeter Cathedral, " it is evident there was a clock in this church in
1317. In the fabric roll under the year 1376-77, the sum of 1195. gd.
is set down for expenses
' circa caincvam in horeali tiwre
pro Horlogio quod vocatuv
clock — (this appears to be
the earliest mention of the
word) — de nove constrnendam.^
The whole charge in the
roll ^7iova camera pro horlogio '
iS;^io 6s. 5|i. In the same
rolls we find repeated entries
relative to the clock. In
1424-25, two men were sent
off on horse-back to fetch
Roger, clockmaker, from
Barnstaple."
Whatever its construc-
tion, no trace of the original
horologe can be found, but
of its successor, stated to
have been presented by
Bishop Courtenay in 1480,
the wrought-iron framing
and the great wheel are pre-
served, and were quite re-
cently to be seen in the
Chapter House. It is said that this clock was made by Peter
Lightfoot, but if the date of its construction (1480) is correct, this
cannot be true, for Lightfoot had then been dead some years. The
dial which still does duty bears a resemblance to the one of Eightfoot's
at Glastonbury, from which it was possibly copied. It shows the
hour of the day, and the age of the moon ; upon the face or dial,
which is about seven feet in diameter, are two circles, one marked
from one to thirty for the moon's age, the other figured from I. to
XI I. twice over, for the hours. In the centre is a semi-globe,
Fig. 29.
38
Old Clocks and WatcJies and their Makers.
representing the earth, round which a smaller ball, the moon
painted half white and half black, revolves every month, and in
turning upon its axis shows the varying phases of the luminary
which it represents ; be-
tween the two circles is a
third ball, representing the
sun, with a Jleur de lis,
which points to the hours
as the sun, according to
the ancient theory, daily
revolved round the earth.
Underneath it is the in-
scription, " Pereunt et
imputantur " (they [the
hours] pass and are placed
to our account). In 1760
the clock was thoroughly
repaired by William
Howard, when an addi-
tional dial to show the
minutes was provided and
placed on the top of the
case as shown in Fig. 29.
The movement was re-
placed by a modern one in
1885.
The hours are still
struck on " Great Peter,"
a fine-toned bell in the
north tower. This bell
was the gift of Bishop
Courtenay, and was
brought from Llandaff
(1478-86). According to
Worth's excellent Guide
to Exeter Cathedral, it
was re-cast in 1676 by
Thomas Perdue. Its weight, as computed by the Rev. H. T.
Ellacombe, is 14,000 lb., its diameter at the mouth 76 inches, and
its height 56 inches.
In the tower of the Church of St. Mary Steps, near by where
TlV/i,'A/ Clocks. 39
once stood the old West Gate, is a most curious clock, which is
probably a production of the sixteenth century. The corners of the
dial are embellished with basso-relievos representing the four seasons,
and in an alcove over the dial are three automatic figures, as shown
in Fig. 30. The centre one is a statute of Henry VIII. in a sitting
posture, which, on the clock striking the hour, inclines the head at
every stroke. On each side is a soldier in military attire, holding a
javelin in one hand and a hammer with a long handle in the other.
These soldiers strike the quarters by alternate blows on two bells
beneath their feet.
The three figures are termed by many Exonians " Matthew the
Miller and his two sons," from the fact that " Matthew the Miller,"
who resided in a place known as Cricklepit Lane, was remarkable
for his integrity and regular course of life. His punctuality of going
at one hour for and returning with his grist led his neighbours to
judge with tolerable exactness the time of day from his passing.
By this the statue received its vulgar name. Some years ago the
following distich used to be current in Exeter : —
Matthew the Miller's alive,
Matthew the Miller is dead,
For every hour in Westgate Tower,
Matthew nods his head.
Another old clock is contained in the tower of St. Petrock's
Church, in the High Street. This timekeeper is believed to date
from 1470. In the tower also is a peal of six bells, the oldest of
which bears the arms of Henry V. or \T., not later than 1425.
St. Mary's Church, Oxford. — There was a clock at St. Mary's
Church, Oxford, in the fifteenth century, and one of the ancient
Latin statutes of the University is devoted to the duties of its
custodian. Other references are made to it in the proctor's accounts.
Under date 1469 is " Pro custodia horilogij \]s. v'njd.," and a some-
what similar entry occurs in 1473. In 1523 a new clock was erected
from fines imposed on negligent students. In the vice-chancellor's
accounts from 1550 to 1554 is an item, " Paid to Thos. Masey for
mendinge St. Maryes clocke, 25 Junii, travellinge (travailing) by the
space of two weekes thereon, and was moreover paid the sum of
tenpence for a clock for the said machine." On some parchment
rolls in the tower of the schools, among the proctor's accounts,
appears, " 1469, Pro custodia horilogii, iijs.," and " 1472, Pro
reparatione horilogij, vJ5. viijrf."
Although details are in most instances wanting, there are sufficient
40 Old Clocks and ]Vatchcs and their Makers.
references among the ecclesiastical records of the country to show
that church clocks were pretty general throughout England in the
fifteenth century. According to the churchwardens' accounts for
Walberswick, in Suffolk, iid. was paid to the clockmaker in 1451,
and 125. 8d. in the following year. In 1495, John Payn, the smith,
of South wold, received 65. 8d. for a new clock, and in 1499 Nicholas
Schrebbys was paid four sums — i/. 135. 4^., 65. 8^., i/. 2s., and 13s. ^d.
— for the clock.
John Baret, of Bury St. Edmunds, by his will dated 1463,
bequeathed 85. yearly to the sexton of St. Mary's Church, "To keep
the clokke, take hede to the chymes, wynde vp the peys and the
plummeys as ofte as nede is."
The records of Dunstable mention a clock over the pulpit in
1483, and the churchwardens' accounts of Wigtoft, Lincolnshire,
refer to several sums paid to Richard Angel for keeping the clock
from 1484 onward.
An old clock at York Cathedral, which was fixed to the wall near
the south door and covered with a large Gothic case, was removed
in 1752, when the present clock, made by John Hindley, was
erected.
Strasburg Clocks. — The first clock set up in the interior of the
cathedral at Strasburg was begun in 1352, and completed two
years after, under John, Bishop of Lichtenberg. It consisted of a
calendar, representing in a painting some indications relative to the
principal movable feasts. In the middle part there was an astrolabe,
whose pointers showed the movements of the sun and moon, the
hours, and their subdivisions. There was placed at the same
elevation the prime mover, and the other wheel work which caused
the clock to go. The upper compartment was adorned with a
statuette of the Virgin, before which, at noon, the three Magi (wise
men of the East) bowed themselves. An automaton cock, placed
upon the crown of the case, crowed at the same moment, moving its
beak and flapping its wings. A small set of chimes, composed of
several cymbals, formed a part of this work.
The Second Clock, of which an exterior view is given on
p. 41, was certainly a triumph of ingenuity. It was projected in
1547; but though the designs appear to have been then ready, the
execution went no further than the building of the chamber and the
preparation of some of the heavier ironwork, till 1570, when Conrad
Dasypodius, a mathematician of Strasburg, undertook to supervise
the completion of the horologium. By his advice the mechanical
Wci-ht Clocks.
41
works were confided to Isaac and Josiah Habrecht, mechanicians of
Schaffhausen, in Switzerland, wliilc TolMas Slimmer, of tin- same
Fig. 31. — The Second Strasburg Clock,
place, was employed to do the paintings and the sculpture which
were to serve as decorations of the achievement.
42 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Before, and at the foot of the clock, there was a celestial globe
supported on four columns of wood richly carved. It performed a
revolution on its axis, showing the stars known in the time of
Ptolemy, about a.d. 140. These stars, to the number of 1,020, were
grouped in forty-eight constellations, represented by as many figures.
Two circles, one carrying the sun and the other the moon, turned
round the globe, the first in twenty-four hours, the second in the
space of about twenty-five hours.
Immediately behind the celestial globe there Avas a large wooden
disc, in which was painted a calendar for the space of a century, the
months, the days, the Dominical letter, the names of the saints, and
the dates of the principal movable feasts. The calendar made an
entire revolution every year. The statues of Apollo and Diana,
placed on two sides of the disc, pointed out, with their sceptres, the
one the day of the year, the other the corresponding day at the end
of six months. The central part of the calendar was immovable ;
on it were represented the countries of Germany situated along the
Rhine, and the topographical plan of the city of Strasburg.
The compartments on each side of the calendar were occupied by
large panels upon which were painted the principal eclipses of the
sun and moon visible in the northern hemisphere, and answering to
the interval of thirty-two years from 1573 to 1605.
Above the calendar there were seen in the clouds the seven pagan
divinities that have given their names to planets, and afterwards to
the days of the week. These allegorical figures, seated in cars, each
one drawn by the animals which mythology assigns to that par-
ticular divinity, showed themselves successively on the days which
were sacred to them. On Sunday, Apollo was seen, this day being
dedicated to the sun. The ancients named it Dies solis (the day of
the sun), and the Christians the Lord's day {Dies Dominica), whence
is derived the French word, Dimanche, for Sunday. A representa-
tion of Diana was shown on the second day, which was called Dies
lima (day of the moon) — Lmidi — Monday. Mars, the god of war,
appeared on (Mardi) Tuesday, the English word being derived from
Tuesco, the Saxon name of the god of war. The fourth day was
represented by Mercury, the messenger of Olympus ; French,
Mercredi ; English, Wednesday (the latter being derived from Wodiu,
the Saxon name of the same deity). The following day Dies Jovis,
Jupiter's day; French, J eiidi; English, Thursday (derived from Thor,
the Saxon name for Japiter). Venus succeeded on Friday (which
in English is derived from Friga, the Saxon name of the goddess
TlV/ifA/ Clocks. 43
Venus). Saturn, the god of Time, came on Saturday, to close the
Olympian procession.
Immediately above the divinities of the week was erected a
gallery, in the middle of which a small dial plate indicated the
quarter-hours and the minutes, the hours being represented upon
the astrolabe ; at the sides of the dial plate were seated two genii,
of which the one placed on the right raised a sceptre each time the
hour was to strike, and of which the other at the same moment
turned upside down an hour-glass which he held in one hand,
turning it always in the same direction. An astrolabe, constructed
according to Ptolemy's system, occupied the greater part of the
middle story, in the interior of which was contained the wheel work
of the clock. Six pointers, bearing the same number of planets,
pointed out, upon twenty-four divisions of the astronomical day, the
movements of these heavenly bodies; one pointer, larger than the
others and terminated by a sun, finished in twenty-four hours an
entire revolution round a small map of the world placed in the
central part of a large dial plate, which was ornamented at the
same time by the circles of a horoscope and by the twelve signs
of the zodiac. The upper part of the astrolabe was crowned with
the phases of the moon. There was visible a small dial plate cut in
its lower part by two semicircles, behind which the moon, repre-
sented by a golden disc, disappeared at the time of the new moon,
and came out from day to day to show successively a quarter part of its
orb, till it presented to view its entire disc, at the time of full moon.
At the third story of the clock there was a platform, upon which
were fi.xed four small statues representing the four periods of life — •
infancy, youth, manhood, and old age; these figures struck the
(juarter-hours upon cymbals.
Above this platform was suspended the bell intended for sounding
the hours. Two figures stood beside this bell ; the one was Death
under the form of a skeleton, the other represented Christ, having in
one hand the cross and the palm branch. At the instant the hour
ought to strike, the Saviour came forward, and the skeleton drew
back; but hardly had this movement taken place when Christ
retreated precipitately, and Death advanced in the same way, to
strike on the bell the number of strokes required. This movement
was repeated as many times as there were strokes in the hour.
The turret, placed on the left of the principal edifice, contained
the weights of the clock, as well as the machinery intended for the
cock which was perched on the summit of this turret. This cock
44 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
(the only piece which was preserved from the first clock, called the
clock of the three kings) crowed at first daily, at noon, flapping its
wings and opening its beak; but having been struck with lightning
in 1640, it was made to crow only on Sundays and feast days. It
ceased crowing entirely in 1789, at the time when overwhelming
attention bestowed upon the great events that were taking place
caused it to be completely forgotten.
Third Strasburg Clock. — At length it was evident that some
reconstruction was necessary. After considerable debate, the neces-
sary work was entrusted to Jean Baptiste Schwilgue, who entered
on his task in 1838, and completed it about the middle of 1842. On
the 2nd of October of that year the life of the resuscitated marvel
was solemnly inaugurated. Some of the former actions were altered
or omitted, and fresh ones added, the greater part of the movement
being entirely new, for only in some few cases was a restoration of
the former mechanism practicable.
The structure of the second clock was retained to encase the
mechanism with but slight alteration. It is over twenty feet in
height, and is surmounted by a remarkably handsome dome, as
shown on page 41. On the right is a spiral staircase, by means of
which the various galleries are reached.
The motions now are briefly as follows : — On the floor-level is a
celestial globe, indicating sidereal time. In its motion round its
axis the globe carries with it the circles that surround it — namely,
the equator, the ecliptic, the solstitial and equinoctial colures, while
the meridian and horizon circles remain motionless, so that there
are shown the rising and setting, as well as the passage over the
meridian of Strasburg, of all stars that are visible to the naked eye,
and which appear above the horizon. Behind the celestial globe is
the calendar; on a metallic band, nine inches wide and thirty feet in
circumference, are the months, the days of the month, Dominical
letters, fixed and movable feast days. The band is shifted at mid-
night, and a statue of Apollo points out the day of the month and
the name of the saint corresponding to that day. The internal part
of the annular band indicates true solar time ; the rising and setting
of the sun; the diurnal motion of the moon round the earth, and its
passage over the meridian ; the phases of the moon, and the eclipses of
the sun and moon. Adjacent compartments are devoted to a perpetual
calendar, solar and lunar cycles, and other periodic recurrences, solar
and lunar equations, etc. Above the calendar appear allegorical figures,
seated in chariots, and representing the days of the week. These
]Vcii;ht Clocks. 45
chariots, drawn by such animals as are assigned as attributes of the
divinities, run on a circular iron railway and appear each in order.
The dial for showing mean solar time is in the gallery above,
called the Gallery of Lions. iV genius stands on each side of the
dial. The one on the left strikes the first note of each quarter-hour
with a sceptre he holds in his hand, the second note being struck
by one of the four ages in a still higher gallery, as will be described
presently. At the completion of each sixty minutes the genius on
the right of the dial reverses an hour-glass filled with red sand.
The story above is occupied by a planetarium, in which the
revolutions of the planets are represented upon a large dial plate.
Above the planetarium, and upon a star-decked sky, is a globe
devoted to showing the phases of the moon.
Next come movable figures representing the four ages, one of
which in turn appears and gives upon a bell the second stroke of
each quarter of an hour. At the first quarter a child strikes the
bell with a rattle; a youth in the form of a hunter strikes it with
an arrow at the half-hour ; at the third quarter the blows are given
by a warrior with his sword ; at the fourth quarter an old man
produces the notes with his crutch. When he has retired a figure
of Death appears and strikes the hour with a bone.
In the upper apartment is a figure of Christ ; and when Death strikes
the hour of noon the twelve Apostles pass before the feet of their Master,
bowing as they do so. Then Christ makes the sign of the cross. During
the procession of the iVpostles, the cock perched at the top of the
weight-turret flaps his wings, ruffles his neck, and crows three times.
In addition to the mean time dial in the gallery, there is one, seven-
teen feet in diameter, above the principal entrance to the cathedral,
Liibeck Clocks. — A most remarkable clock was in 1405 erected
in the church of St. Mary at Liibeck. Doubtless it has been much
altered since that time; but in 1820, from the description of Downes,
it was in good order. It consists of three compartments, the lowest
of which contains the original inscription : —
" Hoc horologium factum est primum, Anno mccccv,
Hanc. rempl. gubernantibus Dn. IVoconsulibus Henrico
Westof et
Goswino Clingenberg, Provisoribus hujus ecclesiae. Ipso die
purificationis Mariae.
Aspectum coeli, Solis Lunseque nitorem,
Lumina per certos ignem ducentia cursus,
Ut fluat hora fugax, atque irrevocabilis annus,
Hoc tibi, conspiciens ! oculis liaurire licebit.
Sed resonos quoties modules campana remittit,
Pronus astripotens Numen laudare memento."
46 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
These lines may be translated as follows : —
" This horologe [clock] was first made in the year 1405. The lord pro-consuls
of this state, H. Westof and G. Clingenberg, being overseers of this church. In
the very day of the Purification of the Virgin Mary.
" The aspect of the heavens and the gleam of the Sun and Moon — luminaries
drawing their light through certain courses, as flows the swift hour and irrevocable
year, to thee, O beholder, will it be permitted to take in with thine eyes. But as
often as the bell with resonant sounds [beats upon thine ears] remember in reverent
attitude to praise the starpotent deity."
There are also several other inscriptions recording the different
dates at which the clock underwent repairs.
The principal division of the compartment is occupied by a plate
on which several concentric circles are described. This has a
progressive motion, and is calculated to exhibit the various details
of the calendar from 1753 to 17S5, such as the Sunday letters, the
days of the week and month, the hours of sunrise, the golden
number, the solar circle, the day of Easter full moon, and the
number of weeks intervening between Christmas and Shrove Tues-
day. The centre plate contains a specification of all the solar and
lunar eclipses visible at Liibeck between the years 181 1 and i860,
drawn up by the celebrated Bode, of Berlin.
In the middle compartment another plate is inserted, containing
an hour circle, a movable zodiac, and a dial which points out the
hours and the solar place in the ecliptic. A gilt representation of
the sun, accompanied by the inferior planets Venus and Mercury,
appears on the dial. There are four other dials respectively
calculated for Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the moon. On two side
columns the planetary hours are marked.
The highest compartment contains a small tower, with a set of
bells which play every hour, and a clock which is struck by a figure
of Time, while on the opposite side, that of Transiency, which, as
here personified, reverts its face at every stroke. Under this tower
is the figure of our Saviour, before which a procession, representing
the emperor and the seven electors, passes at twelve every day,
entering at one side, and retiring at the other. The first-mentioned
figure bestows a blessing on those of the potentates as they move
by, and they express adoration by bowing the head. Two angels
always announce the ceremony by sound of trumpet. An attendant
stands before each of the little doors through which the train appears
and disappears, and pays obeisance as they pass. The number of
figures amounts to twelve ; hence some people have considered that
they represent the Apostles.
The sides of this stupendous horologe, which is enclosed by an
Wcii^ht Clocks.
47
iron railing, exhibit various scenes from the narrative of Christ's
suffering's ; and carved in the corner of the framework surrounding
one of these scriptural pieces is the figure of a mouse, which is the
work-mark of Liibeck.
Downes describes another extraordinary clock at Liibeck, in the
Dome Church. This is of a much later date. The dial plate represents
the face of the sun, the
eyes of which, turning
alternately to the right
and left with the oscil-
lation of the pendulum,
produce a most hideous
effect. Above are two
figures, one of which
personifies Faith, and
beats the quarters ; the
other a skeleton, said to
represent Time, exhibits
rather the lineaments of
Death. In the left hand
it holds an hour-glass,
and in the right a ham-
mer, with which it strikes
the hours, slowly moving
the head to the right and
left during the process.
The Hans of Jena
clock, already referred to,
is shown in Fig. 32,
which is reproduced from
Dubois' work. The legend
is that Hans of Jena, re-
presented by a monstrous
head of bronze, is to be
tantalised for three centuries by the pilgrim who presents to the
open mouth a golden apple as the clock strikes, but quickly
withdraws it before the mouth can be closed. The figure of an
angel on the right raises its eyes and shakes the bell as each blow of
the hour is struck.
Whatever variations were made in the form or size of clocks
during the fifteenth century, the principle of the mechanism
Fig. 32. — Hans of Jena.
48
Gld Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
remained unaltered, and such as were constructed appear to have
been mostly for public buildings or persons of exalted position.
The fact that small clocks and portable clocks are mentioned as
existing in the fourteenth century, seems to have led to the
supposition that the mainspring as a motor was then in use, but
such a conclusion is vmwarranted. Most of these descriptions, or
rather references, though interesting, are of the vaguest character,
for instance, among the ancient inventories quoted by M. de
Fig. ^2- — Chamber clock, fifteenth
century. Bib. Nat. Paris.
6
r^o^^
Fig. 34. — Fifteenth century clock from
Italian tarsia-work.
Laborde are "a.d. 1380, a clock of silver, entirely without iron";
and "a clock of white silver for placing on a column." In 1381,
"I'oreloge" of Charles VI. being out of order, a smith from Senlis,
named Robert d'Origny, who repaired it, received sixteen sols
parisis. The accounts of the Duke of Burgundy recite that in 1407
a smith (fevre) named " Jehan d'Alemaigne," supplied a movement
for a small clock (petite orloge) to be placed in the chamber of
" Madame."
Sir John Paston, in the course of a letter written in the spring of
Weight Clocks. 49
1469, says : " I praye you speke wt Harcourt off the Abbeye ffor a
lytell clokke whyche I 'sent liini by James Gressham to amend and
yt ye woll j^et it off him an it he redy, and send it me, and as ffor
mony for his labour, he hath another clok of myn whiche St.
Thorns Lyndes, God ha\e hys sowle, gave me. He maye kepe that
tyll 1 paye him. This klok is my Lordys Archebysshopis but late
him not wote off it."
The appended Fig. 33, from the Bibliotheque Nationale at
Paris, purports to represent the remains of a hfteenth-century
chamber clock. It is pretty evident there was originally a bell at
the top of the case, and perhaps a hand to indicate the hour. It is
not however certain there was a hand, for some of the early clocks
had revolving dials. In the South Kensington Museum there is on
a " tarsia," or inlaid wood panel of Italian late fifteenth-century
production, a representation of a clock with a revolving ring, on
which the twenty-four hours are marked, the current hour being
indicated by a fixed pointer, as seen in Fig. 34. The whole panel
represents an open cupboard, in which there are, besides the clock,
a flagon, a chalice, a cross, etc. ; so one may infer that the clock was
of comparatively small size, and of course of older date than the
panel, which careful comparison by the experts of the Museum fixes
at certainly not later than 1500. The action of the winding work is
obscure, but with that exception the construction of the clock is
toleral)ly clear.
Anne Boleyn's Clock. — In the corridor at Windsor Castle is a
clock which is said to have been presented to /Vnne Boleyn on her
wedding morning by Henry VIII. It is rather over four inches
square and ten inches high, exclusive of the bracket on which it is
mounted, as shown in Fig. 35. It was purchased on behalf of Queen
Victoria for ^iio 55. when Horace Walpole's collection at Straw-
berry Hill was sold, and was then described as " a clock of silver gilt
richly chased, engraved and ornamented with fleurs-de-lys, little heads,
etc. On the top sits a lion holding the arms of England, which are
also on the sides." This description is not quite correct, for the case
is of copper gilt ; the weights are of lead cased in copper, gilt and
engraved ; on the one visible in the engraving are the initial letters
of Henry and Anne with true lovers' knots above and below ; on the
other H. A. alone ; at the top of each is " Dieu et mon droit " ; at
the bottom "the most happye ! " The movement at present in the
case has brass wheels, a crown wheel escapement and a short
pendulum ; though not modern it is certainly later than the middle
c.w. K
50
Old Clocks and ]Vatches and their Makers.
of the sixteenth centiif y.
'A sight of the clock
evoked from Harrison
Ainsworth a reflection
to which but few will
take exception. "This
love token of enduring
affection remains the
same after three cen-
turies, but four years
after it was given the
object of Henry's eternal
love was sacrificed on
the scaffold. The clock
still goes ! It should
have stopped for ever
when Anne Boleyn
died." And whether by
accident or design,
though the weights are
suspended below the
supporting bracket, the
mechanism, which ap-
pears to be in fairly
good condition, is now
silent, and the hand
remains stationa ry .
There is no record as
to the maker of this
interesting relic, but at
this time most of the
" orologes " were the pro-
duction of foreign artists,
judging from the names
quoted in State Papers
of the period.
In the "Privy Purse
Expenses of Henry
VIII., from 1529 to
1532," edited by Sir
Harris Nicolas, it is
Fig. 35. — Anne Boleyn's clock.
Weight Clocks. 51
recorded that in July, 1530, /'15 was paid to the Frenchman who
sold the king " ij clocks at Oking." In the following month was
paid to " a Frenchman called Driilardy, for iij dyalls and a clokk
for the King's Grace the sum of ^15." In December of the same
year ^19 65. 8^. was "paid to Vincent Keney clok maker for xj
clokks and dialls." So many payments within a brief period
warrant the assumption that clocks were a form of present favoured
by his Majesty.
In the " Sixth Report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission "
mention is made of an agreement, dated 1599, between one Michael
Neuwers, a clockmaker, and Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury, for the
construction of a clock. " It is agreed that Michael should make a
striking clock about the bigness of that which he made for the Earl
six years past ; it is to be made by the last of December next. The
cover or case of it to be of brass, very well gilt, with open breaking
through all over, with a small fine hand like an arrow, clenly and
strongly made, the ... or white dial plate to be made of French
crown gold, and the figures to show the hour and the rest to be
enamelled the fynelyest and daintyest that can be, but no other
colour than blew, white, and carnalian ; the letters to be somewhat
larger than ordinary; the price of the clock must be /'15, which
makes with the earnest already given £16, but the circle I must pay
for, besides the gold which shall make it ; the sides of the brass case
must not be sharp, but round, and the case very curiously made."
The Michael Neuwers here referred to was probably Michael
Nouwen, a sixteenth century horologist, several specimens of whose
work survive. That the Earl of Shrew'sbury was somewhat of a
connoisseur of timekeepers, as well as an authority on horological
matters, is borne out by the following letter, dated 161 1, from him
to Sir Michael Hickes, which is preserved in the Lansdowne MSS.
at the British Museum : —
" I perceived by you to-day that you understood My Lord
Treasurer's design was to have a watch, but I conceaved he wysshed
a stryknge clock, made lyke a Watch, to stande oppon a Cubbart, &
suche a one (though no new one, & yet under a dozen years ould) I
have found oute, & send you by this bearer, which I pray you
deliver to his Lordship from me, & tell him that I am very well
perswaded of the truth of it, or else I should be ashamed to send him
so gross & rude a piece as this is, & if I hadd thought his Lordship
could have well forborne it but for four or five days longer, I would
have bestowed a new case for it, for this is a very bad one. If his
E 2
52 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Lordship would not have it stryke, either in the dayes or nights, the
striker may be forborne to be wounde up, and so the Watch being
wounde up it will go alone. It will goe twenty-six houres, but I
wysh it may be wounde up every mornyng or nyght about eight or
nine o'clock, which will be sufficient until the next day or nyght at
the same tyme."
Among the State Papers of the time of James I. there is an
original letter, dated August 4th, 1609, addressed by Sir Julius
Csesar to the clerks of the signet, requesting them to prepare a
warrant to pay ^300 to Hans Niloe, a Dutchman, for a clock with
music and motions. And on the 17th of the same month Sir
Julius wrote from the Strand to Salisbury, stating that he was
pressed by Hans Niloe for the ;^300 for his clock.
In " A true certificat of the names of the Straungers residing and
dwellinge within the City of London," etc., taken by direction of the
Privy Council, by letters dated September 7th, 161 8, it is stated that
in the ward of Farringdon Within was then living " Barnaby
Martinot, clockmaker; b. in Paris; a Roman Catholicque." In
Portsoken ward was living "John Goddard, clockmaker; lodger and
servant with Isack Sunes in Houndsditch ; h. at Paris, in Fraunce ;
heer three years ; a papist ; yet hee hath the oath of allegiance to
the king's supremacy, & doth acknowledg the king for his soveraigne
dureing his abode in England ; & is of the Romish church."
Clock at Hampton Court Palace. — Derham gives the numbers
of the wheels and pinions of a large clock which appears to have
been erected at Hampton Court Palace about 1540. This date is
assumed from the marks N.O. or N.C. and the figures 1540 which
were engraved on a bar of the original wrought-iron framework. If
the letters were N.C, they may have referred to Nicholas Cratzer.
In 171 1 the clock was repaired by Langley Bradley. The original
and curious dial of the clock is on the eastern side of the gate-tower
in the second quadrangle. It is composed of th^ee separate copper
discs of different sizes, with a common centre, but revolving at vary-
ing rates. The smallest of these is 3 ft. 3^ in. in diameter, and in
the middle of this is a slightly projected globe, painted to represent
the earth. The quarters marked on the centre disc by thick lines
are numbered with large figures, and round the edge this disc is
divided into twenty-four parts, a red arrow painted on the second
disc pointing to these figures and showing at once the quarter in
which the moon is, and the time of southing. Next to the figure of
the earth in this centre disc, a circular hole, 10 in. in diameter,
Weight Clocks.
53
allows a smaller disc travelling behind to show the phases of the
moon. On the second disc, 4 ft. i^ in. in diameter, but of which
only the outer rim is seen, are twenty-nine divisions, and a triangular
pointer, projecting from behind the central disc, shows the moon's
age in days. The largest of the three discs is 7 ft. 10 in. in diameter.
There are many circles painted on so much of the rim of this as is
seen, the inner, or, following the order above observed and proceed-
ing from the centre, the first circle, giving the names of the months.
Fig. 36. — Dial of Hampton Court Palace clock.
the second the days of the months (only twenty-eight for February),
the third the signs of the zodiac, and on the rim, with 30° for
each space filled by a sign, a circle divided into 360 parts. A long
pointer with a gilded figure of the sun attached, projecting from
behind the second disc, shows on this third or outmost disc of the
dial the day of the month and the position of the sun in the ecliptic.
54 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
This pointer performs another duty, acting hke the hour hand of an
ordinary clock, and showing the time of day or night as it passes the
twenty-four figures — two sets of twelve — painted on the stonework
within which the dial revolves. The diameter of this outer immovable
circle on the stone is g ft. 8 in., and the characters for the hours are
Roman numerals, g inches in length.
In 1575 a payment appears to have been made to George Gaver,
Serjeant painter, for painting the great dial at Hampton Court
Palace, containing hours of the day and night, the course of the sun
and moon, and doubtless since that time the same necessary restora-
tion has been often undertaken. In 1835 an extraordinary trans-
position was made, for the works of the old clock were removed,
and have since disappeared. In their place was fixed a movement
with the following inscription : " This clock, originally made for the
Queen's Palace in St. James's Palace, and for many years in use
there, was, a.d. 1835, by command of his Majesty King William IV.,
altered and adapted to suit Hampton Court Palace by B. L. Vulliamy,
clockmaker to the king"; and on another plate on the clock—
"Vulliamy, London, No. 352, a.d. i7gg." Worse than all, the
precious dial was taken down and stowed away in a workshop at the
palace, the gap left being filled by a painted board. In iSyg, how-
ever, a new and sufficient clock movement was provided, the dial
found, restored by Mr. James Thwaites, and replaced. It now
shows the hours, the motions of the sun and moon, etc., with
certainly as much regularity as formerly, and as well as N.O. or
N.C. could have desired. For the appended sketch of the dial I am
indebted to Mr. Thwaites.
Oronce Fine, mathematician to Francis I. and Henry II. of
France, devised what is often spoken of as a planetary clock, which
is shown in Fig. 37. The construction of this machine was begun
in 1553, and after seven years, when it was completed, it was
presented to the Cardinal de Lorraine. Afterwards it was placed
in the library of St. Genevieve at Paris. It is in the form of a
pentagonal column seventeen inches in diameter and six feet high.
The movement concealed in the pillar is composed of over one
hundred wheels and actuated by a weight which falls one foot per day
and was calculated to keep the apparatus going for forty-eight hours.
Clock by Isaac Habrecht. — At the top of the main staircase
of the British Museum is a most curious clock, which was bequeathed
to the nation by Mr. Octavius Morgan. It was constructed in i58g
by Isaac Habrecht, one of the two ingenious brothers who made the
WeigJit Cloch
55
second famous clock mechanism at Strasburg. It is about four feet
in height, and tlie general design is the same as that of the left tower
Fig. 37. — Planetary clock of Oronce Fine.
Fig. 38. — Clock by Isaac
Habrecht.
of the Strasburg clock, and on the sides of both are figures of the
three Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, and each is surmounted
by a figure of the cock of St. Peter, which at the stroke of the hour
56 Old Clocks and Watches and ihcir Makers.
flaps its wings and crows. It had originally a balance as a con-
troller, for which a pendulum was subsequently substituted. The
quarters are struck by four figures, representing the ages of man,
and the hour by a figure of Death. On a lower balcony is a seated
figure of the Virgin and Child, before whom passes a circle of
angels, who, as they are set in movement by the striking of the
clock, are caused to make an obeisance in front of the Virgin.
Below this, the gods of the days of the week perform their circuit,
each driving in a chariot, while the dials on the lower stages fulfil
the more useful functions of indicating the hour, the phases of the
moon, the feasts of the Church, etc. The case is of gilt copper,
with well-engraved figures and ornamental designs, perhaps by
Tobias Stimmer, who was employed to decorate the original clock
at Strasburg. The history of this clever piece of mechanism is
somewhat curious, though it rests upon slender foundations. It is
stated that Pope Sixtus V. was so pleased with the Strasburg clock
that he ordered Habrecht to make one of the same kind. The time-
keeper of which a view is given on page 55 was the result, and it
remained at the Vatican for two hundred years. Its next appear-
ance was in Holland, where it w^as in the possession of the king;
from Holland it was brought to London and exhibited about
1850.
In the royal palace of Rosenborg, Copenhagen, is a similar
clock by Isaac Habrecht, and at the Historical Museum, Dresden,
is one, also very similar, which was made for the Elector Augustus
between 1563 and 1568 by the astronomer-horologist Baldwein, of
Marburg, and H. Bucher, under the direct superintendence of the
learned Landgraf William IV. of Hesse Cassel.
Lyons Clock. — The cathedral of Lyons contains a remarkable
specimen of complicated horological work, which is in the form of
a tower forty feet high. The original clock was constructed by a
mechanician named Nicholas Lippms, of Basle, who completed it in
1598. Guillaume Nourisson in 1660 repaired the structure, and
among other alterations introduced a large oval dial. Not only was
the outline of the dial oval, but also the graduated and figured band,
which was divided into sixty to represent the minutes, and with
distinct marks for the quarter hours. From a description of this
curious clock published in 1677, are taken the following engravings,
which show how the hand dilated and contracted as it travelled
around the dial in order that one tip might always indicate the
minute and the other the quarter hour,
Weight Clocks.
57
Fig. 40 is the exterior of the hand stretched to its maximum
length. As the hand approaches the narrower part of the oval, the
Fig. 39. — Lyons clock.
inner socket-like ends of a and h pass over the extremities of the
fixed central portion.
58
Old Clocks and Watclies and tlieir Maker:
Fig. 41 is a view of the central part with the ornamental covering
removed.
Fixed to the centre part is a cannon pinion driven by a bevelled
pinion which also drives another pinion, the stalk of which passes
through the cannon to the upper part of the hand, and there engages
Fig. 40.
with a double crank attached by means of connecting rods with the
solid core of the parts a and h.
This dial is on one side of the tower. On the front are two dial
plates as shown in the engraving on page 57. The lower one is a
calendar, and the other an astrolabe. The calendar is divided into
365 divisions, on which are fixed crowns. Each crown represents
the day of the month in the calendar, and the name of the saint.
Fig. 41.
when the anniversary of the latter is due. The names of the
months are on the circumference. The circle forming the centre
is divided into sixty-six years, and moves one division forward on
the 31st of every December. The inscriptions about the religious
festivals, etc., are in handwriting on parchment. The astrolabe is
exceedingly ingenious. Thereon all the zodiacal and other astro-
nomical signs are displayed, the solar and lunar movements, etc.
In the upper part of the tower are various automatic pieces. There
is a gilt niche in which appear representations of the days of the
]]^ci\i^ht Clocks.
59
week. For Sunday the symbol is the Resurrection ; Monday,
Death ; Tuesday and Wednesday, Saints Stephen and John ;
Thursday, the Sacrament ; Friday, the Passion ; Saturday, the
X'irgin. At niichii^ht, the statue that has finished duty cedes the
Fig. 42. — Venice clock.
place to that for the coming day. On the left is an angel which
turns a sandglass every hour ; on the right, another angel beats the
measure with head, hand, and foot, as the clock strikes each hour.
Above all is a large space, where the Almighty in the scene of the
Annunciation bestows His benediction. The cupola terminates the
monument and covers the bells, which play several religious chants
6o
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
and the Ave Maria. There is the figure of a beadle who appears,
and marches round the gallery, to inspect, as it were, the bells.
In 1895, Chateau, of Paris, thoroughly repaired the clock, by
direction of the French Government.
Fig. 43.
Venice Clock.— The first clock in the Square of St. Mark, at
Venice, the work of Giovanni P. Rainaldi, of Reggio, and his son
Carlo, was completed in 1495. Of its construction but httle is known.
Its successor, the monumental timekeeper shown on page 59, was
nV/if/;/ Clocks. ' 6i
erected at the Grand Piazza early in the seventeenth century.
There is a large dial showing the hours, and above is a balcony
of gilt lattice surrounding an image of the Blessed Virgin, seated
between two doors overlaid with gold. Evelyn, in his " Memoirs,"
under date 1645, speaks of this "admirable clock, celebrated next to
that of Strasburgh, for its many movements ; amongst which about
twelve and six — which are their houres of Ave Maria, when all the
towne are on their knees — come forth the 3 kings led by a starr,
and passing by ye image of Christ in his Mother's armes do their
reverence, and enter into ye clock by another doore." Another
writer in 1841 remarked that at a certain period of every year, on
the Feast of the Ascension, and fourteen days afterwards, as the
hour struck, the door on the right hand opened and an angel with a
trumpet issued forth, followed by three Eastern kings, each of
whom, as he passed the Virgin, raised his crown, bowed, and then
disappeared through the other door. The hours are struck by two
bronze giants on a large bell which surmounts the structure.
Alterations to the movements appear to have been made from time
to time, the most recent in 1859. The clock as it now exists is shown
in Fig. 43, reproduced from a photograph taken by INIr. Julien Tripplin.
Above the balcony is seated a figure of the Virgin Mary, and the
doors on each side are utilised to exhibit by means of jumping figures
the hour and minute. On the left facing the structure appear Roman
numerals representing the last completed hour, and on the right the
number of minutes past, these figures changing automatically every
five minutes.
( 62 )
CHAPTER III.
Portable Timekeepers.
It was not until driving weights depending from cords or chains
were superseded by a more compact motor, which allowed of their
being readily transported from place to place, that timekeepers were
regarded as objects of particular interest, the acquisition of which
was sought in fashionable circles.
The Hon. Daines Barrington, in vol. v. of the Avc]ia;ologia, speaks of
^' "f^i^'
i 1'-.. 44. Fig. 45.
Canister case ; covers pressed on, back and front (no hinged joints).
a watch as belonging to Robert Bruce, who died in 1328. This watch
was of small size, with an enamelled case, a piece of transparent
horn over the dial, and had engraved on the plate " Robertus Bruce,"
in Roman characters. Though it passed current for some time at the
end of last century, and eventually became theproperty of George III.,
Portable Tiuickecpcvs.
63
careful examination revealed the fact that the inscription was
undoubtedly a recent addition, and the watch a production of three
centuries later than Bruce. Except that the quotation of Harrington's
statement is perennial, it would be hardly worth while to refer to so
clumsy an imposition. A watch now in the Schloss collection is, I
believe, the one referred to. It will be illustrated in Chapter IV.
It is now generally conceded that the production of a portable
Fig. 46. — Cover closed.
timekeeper was accomplished by Peter Henlein or Hele, a clock-
maker of Nuremberg, who was born in 1480 and died in 1542. He,
shortly after 1500, used a long ribbon of steel tightly coiled round a
central spindle to maintain the motion of the mechanism. The
invention has been ascribed to Habrecht and others, at a much later
date, but Johannes Coccleus, who was born in 1470, in his com-
mentary dated 151 1, accurately describes a striking watch and
distinctly credits its introduction to Henlein. Although portable
timekeepers were not in general use for a long period afterwards, a
64
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
taste for table clocks and watches was at once apparent among
wealthy people, who delighted in the possession of curious novelties.
The earliest watches are scarcely to be distinguished from small
table clocks. The case was a cylindrical box, generally of metal,
chased and gilt, usually with a hinged lid on one side to enclose the
dial, the lid being engraved and, as a rule, pierced with an aperture
Fig. 47.— Cover open.
over each hour, through which the position of the hand might be
seen. Most of the watches were provided with a bell, on which in
some cases the hours were sounded in regular progression ; in other
instances the bell was merely utilised for an alarum. When
furnished with a bell the case w^as, as a rule, worked a Jour to
emit the sound. Cases in which the covers over the dial and back
are quite flat, and the edges of which project over the middle of the
body, are often spoken of as tambourine or drum cases. A canister
Portable Tiiiicki-cpcys. . 65
case is understood to he one in which the covers are not hinged to
the body of the case, but simply pressed on in the same way as is
the cover of a canister.
Ilhistrations of dissimilar examples are appended. All are worth
Fig. 48. — Tambourine case, jointed cover.
examination. In Fig. 49, to form twelve apertures through which
the position of the hand might be seen, and to connect the outer part
of the cover with the centre, are six pairs of male and female figures
joining hands, well carved with very pretty effect. A happier com-
bination of ornament and utility would be difficult to conceive.
At the South Kensington Museum is a circular table clock, about
c.w. F
66
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Fig. 49.
Fig. 50.
Fig. 51.
three inches in diameter, in an engraved brass case having a per-
forated dome surmounted by a small horizontal dial. On the mside
of the bottom cover is inscribed, "P. H. Nor . . 1505." This
Portable Thiickccpcrs.
67
led to the supposition that "Nor" stood for Norimbergae, "at
Nuremberg," and that the clock was the handiwork of Hele. The
plates of the movement are of steel, and the piece appears to be
evidently a production of the sixteenth century, but the balance and
Fig. 52
Fig. 53.
Fig. 54.
its accessories are comparatively modern, and it would be unsafe to
rely on the inscription as conclusive evidence of authenticity.
A somewhat similar piece, of rather later date, is shown in
Fig. 52, which is about two-thirds of the actual size of the clock.
The square table clock of which two views. Figs. 53 and 54, are
F 2
68
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
appended, is, judging from the engraving and general construction,
a sixteenth century production. It is furnished with the primitive
cross-bar balance. There is no indication of the maker or his place
of abode.
On very early productions the maker's name is exceptional ;
- ■ r-j J j\
Fig. 55.
initials were a more usual signature, and occasionally a work
stamp is to be found, from which it may be possible to ascertain
the locality of manufacture. Most German towns had a distinctive
trade or work mark, that for Nuremberg being the letter N in a
circle, and for Augsburg a pineapple. Sebastian Lehr, clockmaker
to the city of Nuremberg, who died in 1556, may be taken to have
been an eminent craftsman. Among others of the period of whom
Po vta ble Tiinckccpc vs.
69
mention is made is Hans Gruber, clockmaker and master of the
Locksmiths' Guild about the middle of the sixteenth century.
Fig. 5C. — Front with cover closed.
Fig. 57. — Front with cover removed.
Fig. 58. — Edge.
Fig. 59. — Back.
There are several specimens in tlie British Museum of a date
between 1535 and 1570. Of two by Jeremia Metzger (or Metzker),
Augsburg, one is furnished with a bow, and one is without any
70
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
provision for suspending the watch. The South Kensington col-
lection includes a circular striking and alarum clock, supported
by a figure of Atlas on a pedestal of gilt brass, inscribed thus:
"Jeremias . Metzger . Vrmacher . 15.60 . in Avgspvrg." A clock
with complicated movements by this maker in the Vienna Treasury
is dated 1564. In the same repository are two watches in cylindrical
brass cases which match each other. The movements bear the
f |» I In ^«. «
f?rc^"
Fig. 60.
letters A.S. arranged as a monogram, but there is no other indication
of the maker.
Fig- 55' from the Soltykoff collection, is one of the earliest of the
kind. It is unnamed, but doubtless of German make, in a brass
gilt case with covers top and bottom. In the open top cover may
be seen the twenty-four perforations, through which the position of
the hand could be discerned. For this engraving and other illustra-
tions of sixteenth century horology, formerly in the magnificent
Povtablc Ti)iickccpcrs.
71
collection of Prince IMerre Soltykoff, I am indebted to the sumptuous
descriptive quarto prepared by Pierre Dubois.
Figs. 56, 57, 58, 59, are four views of a fine mid-sixteenth
Fig. 61.
century alarum watch, in a case of gilt metal, the front, back, and
edge of which is perforated. On each of the covers is a bust as
shown.
Of another early example belonging to Mr, Schloss three views
are appended (Figs. 60, 61, 62). The movement is especially
72 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
interesting. It is of the most primitive character, the balance for
Fig. 62.
Fig. 63. — Earl}' oval watch.
Fig. 64. — Early oval watch.
controlling the motion of the wheels being of the cross-bar type,
designated by Froissard "-le folioV and by German writers ''■ivaagr
Portable Timekeepers.
73
Another feature, the "stackfreed," for etjualising the power, will be
referred to a little further on.
A large oval case, with geometrical perforations in the lid, was
almost contemporaneous with the circular box form, and an oval
Fig. 65
Img. 6G.
shape, either small and plain or larger with more or less of decora-
tion, remained in favour for over a century. An early specimen is
shown in Figs. 63 and 64. The oval striking and alarum w^atch
reproduced in Figs. 65 and 66 is sixteenth century w^ork by Jacques
Duduict, "-inaitve ovologiev en la bonne ville de Blois,'" and is from the
74
Old Clocks and WntcJies and their Makers.
Soltykoff collection. It has covers back and front, on each of which
is a tableau reproducing a scene in the life of Esther.
The luxury and extravagance in dress which characterised the
Elizabethan period required more variety of form and colour than
could be found in a plain regular form of gold or silver, so rock
crystal and other stones were often converted into cases, which were
cut in the form of crosses, stars, shells, and other extraordinary
FiG. 67.
Fig. 68.
fancies, while the dials and mounts were occasionally enriched
with coloured enamels. The most elegant of these costly toys
emanated from France, Blois being distinguished as an early seat
of manufacture.
Figs. 67 and 68 represent what Dubois declared to be one of the
richest productions of the kind which has survived. It is from the
Soltykoff collection, oval in form, with square edges, in a case of
crystal, with mountings engraved, splendidly enamelled, and further
embellished with diamonds and rubies. The ball depending from
Portable Timekeepers.
75
the bottom of the case is a fine pearl. The dial is of gold, the
borders above and below being enriched with enamel of various
colours. The back plate is engraved all over with arabesques,
giving a delightful effect. In the midst of the engraving may be
Fig. 69. — Front with cover removed.
Fig. 70. — View of back.
Fig. 71. — Front cover.
discerned the letter N, the Nuremberg work mark. It bears no
indication of the maker's name, but from the primitive foliot balance
and other features it may safely be classed as not later than mid-
sixteenth century work.
There is at the Horological Institute a print of a very old striking
76
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Fig, 72
or clock-watch, the case of which is enriched with remarkably fine
arabesque work, pierced to emit the sound. Three views of it are
appended : Figs. 69, 70, 71.
The dial has two hour circles,
the divisions of the outer
circle being marked with
Roman, and those of the
inner with Egyptian cha-
racters, while between the two
is a circle of minute marks.
I have had an opportunity of
examining' the watch, Avhich
belongs to Mr. Schloss. It
is one inch and three-quarters
in thickness, and three inches
in diameter ; the wheels are of
iron, but it has neither barrel
nor fusee. There are two
springs, one the motive power for timekeeping, and the other for
striking, which is effected
upon a broad bell occupying
the whole bottom of the
watch. The outer end of
the mainspring appears to
be attached to a pillar
between the plates — an
arrangement reintroduced
in quite modern times
for cheap clocks.
There has been lately
added to the British
Museum a table watch in a
drum-shaped case, dating
from about 1550. It is
from the Zschille collection,
and is shown in Fig. 72.
The mechanism is very
crude, without screws, and
includes a foliot balance and
"stackfreed." The movement bears, in a shield, the work mark M and
a Jicuv-de-Us.
Fig. 73.
Portable Timchccpcrs.
77
The watch case shown in Fig. 73 is interesting as a specimen of
pierced chasing, probably German, dating from about 1560.
A fine striking watch in a circular table case, from the Soltykoff
collection, is shown in Fig. 74. It dates from about 1575 and is by
Charles Cusin, " iiiaitre horlogcy dc la ville d'Aiitiiii." The hour band
is of silver and the hand of blue steel. It has covers top and
bottom, the upper one pierced
as shown ; the solid centre is
the reverse of a mounted cava-
lier, of which the obverse is
visible when the cover is closed ;
this it is averred represents
Henri IV., King of France and
of Navarre. The under-cover,
simihuly pierced, contains in
the centre a mounted figure,
said to be a counterfeit of the
son of Marie de Medicis, after-
wards King of France.
The origin of the term
" watch " is not very clear. It
may have been taken from the
Swedish vacJit, or from the
Saxon wcrcca, "to wake"; but
whatever its derivation, it had
not, when introduced, the signi-
fication we now attach to it,
because timekeepers were not
then worn in the pocket. But
"watch," or "clock," or " oro-
loge," seems to have been used
indifferently as a title for time-
keepers,- and so it is often
difficult to decide whether a weight clock of large size or a very
minute spring timepiece is meant. Derham, in all the editions of
his book, speaks of timekeepers driven by weights as watches,
reserving the word clock for parts connected with the striking.
The action of the mainspring, which still retains its place as a
motor for portable timekeepers, will be understood with the aid of
Fig. 75. Here, as is usually the case, the spring is contained in a
circular box or barrel c, its inner edge being hooked on to the enlarged
Fig. 74.
78
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
part of the arbor a, and its outer end attached to the inside of the rim
of the barrel. The arbor passes through and fits easily a hole in the
bottom of the barrel, and a hole in the barrel cover e. The spring is
wound by turning the arbor, and then if the spring barrel is attached
to the largest wheel of the clock, in place of the cylinder or drum
from which the weight was suspended, the spring in its effort to
unwind turns the barrel, and with it the wheels composing the clock
train. Of course some provision must be made to prevent the spring
from at once uncoiling when the arbor is released after winding, and
the simplest plan is to have a ratchet wheel fixed on one end of the
arbor, with which a click pivoted to the framing of the timekeeper
engages. When the barrel is used in conjunction with a fusee, as
Fig. 75. — Mainspring
and barrel.
Fig. 76. — Mainspring barrel and fusee.
a, mainspring barrel; b, fusee; c, great wheel;
rf, winding square ; e, snail-shaped flange.
will be described presently, the spring is wound by turning the barrel
instead of the arbor.
But it is evident that just as the spring offered increased resist-
ance to every successive turn of the arbor in winding, so the force
transmitted by it when fully wound would be very much greater
than the force exerted after the barrel had made a few turns and
the spring had partially run down, and this variation of force was
the cause of considerable perplexity for some time after the
invention of the mainspring, for with the verge escapement
variation of force means variation of timekeeping. The first con-
trivance applied with a view of overcoming or abating the drawback
was that known as the " stackfreed." I have tried in vain to trace
the derivation of this curious word, but am told it is of Persian
origin. The device did not prove to be an enduring one ; but it was
appHed to most portable timekeepers up to about 1540, and occa-
sionally afterwards to the end of the century. It is shown in Fig. 77,
which is a watch in a canister case with the back cover removed.
The front and edge of the case have already been illustrated. The
Poriablc Timekeepers.
79
action of the " stackfreed " may be gathered froin an examination of
the engrax'ing witli the following explanation.
Fixed to the mainspring arbor above the top plate is a pinion
having eight leaves. This gears with a wheel having twenty-four
teeth, which do not (juite fill out the circumference of the wheel, but
lea\e a block of two spaces in width which acts as a stop to the
pinion when the mainspring is wound, and after it has run down
three whole turns. Fastened to the wheel is a cam, nearly concentric
for about seven-eighths of its circumference and indented for the
Fig. 77.
Watch movements with
Fig, 78.
stackfreed.
remainder. There is a groove in the concentric portion of the edge,
into which is pressed a roller which is pivoted at the free end of a
strong curved spring. When the mainspring is fully wound the
roller rests in the curved depression of the cam, and the effort
required to lift the roller up the incline till it is placed upon the
concentric contour absorbs so much of the force of the mainspring
as to prevent banking. When the mainspring has nearly run down,
the roller, in entering the depression by pressing the cam in the
direction that it is moving, really aids the mainspring in its effort.
Besides the stackfreed and its appurtenances may be noticed in
Fig. 77 the cross-bar balance, the very small balance cock, and two
8o Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
hinged bolts which shut into holes in the edge of the case, and so
secure the movement in position. The plates, the train wheels,
stackfreed, balance cock, and balance are all of iron or steel, and the
various fastenings are made by means of pins or rivets, there being
no screws used throughout. This movement is, in fact, an excellent
example of the very earliest kind of portable timekeepers.
Fig. 79. — Dial of table clock by Jacob Zech.
In Fig. 78, which shows a later stackfreed movement, is a point
worthy of note. As a form of regulator are two banking pins of
stiff bristle, which the straight arm of the balance knocks against.
These are mounted on a lever which is pivoted at one end by means
of a screw near the edge of the plate. The pins may be caused to
approach or recede from the centre of the balance by moving the
free end of the lever, and in this way the vibrations of the balance
Portable Ti)nckccpcr<>. 81
Would be retarded or (juickened. An engraved scale on the plate
registers the movement of the free end of the lever.
It is not a matter for surprise that a frictional brake like the
stackfreed, which must ha\'e absorbed an appreciable proportion of
the force, failed to give satisfaction for equalising the pull of the
mainspring. The fusee invented for the same purpose by, it is said,
Jacob Zech, of Prague, about 1525, is of a far different nature, and
still survives. It consists of a spirally grooved pulley, which is
interposed between the mainspring barrel and the great or driving
wheel of a clock or watch, the connection between the barrel and
the fusee being made by a cord or chain, one end of which is attached
to the barrel and the other to the fusee. When the spring is relaxed
there must be at least as many coils of the cord around the outside
of the barrel as the barrel is to make turns in winding the spring.
To wind the spring, the fusee is rotated by means of a key fitting a
square formed at one end of its arbor, whereby the cord is drawn
from the barrel on to the fusee, the first coil being on the larger end
of the fusee, as shown in Fig. 76.
Then, as the mainspring runs down, the barrel rotates and coils
the cord on to its periphery again. But while the mainspring when
fully wound turns the fusee by uncoiling the cord from the smallest
part of the fusee, it gets the advantage of a larger radius as its energy
becomes lessened, and by proportioning the diameter of the fusee to
the varying pull of each successive turn of the mainspring an
excellent adjustment is obtained, so that the pressure exerted by the
great wheel on the centre pinion is constant. The fusee is fixed to
its arbor, on which, in the simplest arrangement, the great wheel
rides easily, the connection between the fusee and great wheel being
made by means of a ratchet wheel and click ; this allows of the
fusee being rotated to wind the mainspring. To prevent undue
strain on the cord when the winding is completed, the cord as it is
being coiled on to the smallest turn of the fusee pushes an arm
which is pivoted to the framing of the timekeeper in the path of a
snail-shaped flange of the fusee, and this forms a stop. The barrel
arbor is always stationary. In the early fusees the cord was of
catgut, and this material is still sometimes used for clocks. Chains
were introduced in place of catgut for watches in 1664, by one
Gruet, a Swiss, and they are still used for marine chronometers,
for some clocks, and for the few fusee watches that are made.
Table clocks or watches of the sixteenth century are exceedingly
rare. Many specimens put forward as such are found on examination
c.w. G
82 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
to be of a later date. There is no doubt that the manufacture
of portable timepieces extended to Holland and France before the
end of the century, but very few examples of that period survive.
A genuine specimen would have no covering glass over the dial,
and, if a fusee were present, the connection between it and the
barrel would be by a piece of catgut, and not a chain. There would
be, of course, no controlling spring to the balance at that period,
while the balance cock, instead of being spread over the whole
extent of the balance, would be narrow. The workmanship of the
movement would be comparatively rough, however lavishly the case
might be ornamented.
During the first quarter of the century the frames and wheels were
of iron or steel ; productions of the second quarter having brass
plates and pillars are occasionally to be met with. But brass wheels
before the middle of the century were quite exceptional. Screws
seem to have been introduced to join pieces of metal in German
timekeepers about 1550, so that in early sixteenth century time-
keepers these convenient fasteners would be absent, and the various
junctions made by riveting or the use of either pins or cotters.
Screws are not met with in English work till quite late in the
century, and are absent in some early seventeenth century watches.
There were rarely any winding holes in the cases of sixteenth
century watches ; to attach the key to the winding squares the case
had to be opened and usually the movement to be turned out of the
case, a cover at the back being the alternative.
The Society of Antiquaries possess an undoubted example of the
handiwork of Jacob Zech, the inventor of the fusee. It is a table
timepiece with a circular brass gilt case gf in. in diameter, and 5 in.
in height, which was bequeathed to the Society by Mr. Henry
Peckitt, an apothecary, of Compton Street, Soho, and handed over
by his executrix in 1808. It was given to James Ferguson, the
astronomer and mechanician, by Mudge, and at the "^.ale of Ferguson's
effects it was bought by Mr. Peckitt in 1777. Captain W. H.
Smyth gives a minute description of this relic in Archcsologia,
vol. xxxiii., from which the engraving of the dial (Fig. 79) is taken.
From the decoration of the case and dial, it is inferred that the
clock was made for Sigismund I., King of Poland, and that he
presented it to Bona Sforza, to whom he was married in 1518.
There are three shields equidistant round the case, which is
altogether nicely decoratea. On one shield is an eagle displayed
and crowned, representing Poland ; the second contains a serpent
Portable Timekeepers.
83
entwined and wavy pale crowned, a child issuant from its mouth
and surmoimted by a ducal crown — this is typical of the house of
\'isconti ; the third shield bears the arms of Lithuania, a knight
armed cap-ii-pic, and mounted on a horse proper, holding in his
dexter hand a drawn sword, and having pendent from his neck a
shield charged with the Hungarian cross. The frame is fastened by
Fig. 80.
buttons on dogs. The verge pivots act on iron dovetails. The
regulator is a cross-bar balance of the kind used in De Vick's clock,
except that instead of loose weights of iron there are leaden weights
screwed one on each end of the cross-bar, and the adjustment is
made by screwing to or from the centre of- motion. Originally
these were doubtless fixed weights riveted on and without any
provision for adjustment. There are two yielding brass arms to act
as a banking and check excessive vibration of the cross-bar. There
are eight turns to the fusee, which is of soft metal, and in a circle on
the face of the barrel is engraved in Bohemian an inscription which
G 2
84
Old Clocks and WaicJics and their Makers.
Smyth translates thus: " When we counted 1525 years, then made
me Jacob Zech" (or rather Jacob the Bohemian) "at Prague; it is
true."
There was originally some additional wheelwork to show the
motion of the sun and moon on an engraved ecliptic, and also a
contrivance to strike one at every hour. The wheels are of iron
and show punch marks of division, proving that they had been cut
with a file by hand. A catgut had been used to connect the barrel
Fig. Si.
with the fusee, but a metallic chain was subsequently applied,
which destroyed several of the threads. Before this was done it
went for forty-eight hours with one winding, and gave about 3600
beats in the hour.
Fig. 80 shows a primitive table timepiece which was formerly in
the collection of Baron Pichon and now belongs to Mr. Albert
Schloss. The drum-shaped case of brass gilt is engraved in the
Renaissance style, and measures 5 J in. across. On the bottom
is stamped in a scroll " N. Plantart." A very similar piece is in the
South Kensington Museum.
Portable Timekeepers.
85
In the Ihitish Museum is an excellent specimen of a German
early table clock of a scjuare oblong shape. The works are of iron.
Fig. 82.
It has no fusee. It fits into an engraved metal box, having a hinged
cover. The date of production is stated to be 1530.
Among the collection of Prince SoltykofF was the square table
clock shown in Fig. 81. The sides are of bronze gilt, very finely
engraved with allegorical subjects. Representations of St. Paul,
86
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Matthew, Mark and Luke are engraved on silver medallions which
occupy the centres. Inside the perforated dome is a bell, and
surmounting: it a horizontal dial enriched with coloured enamels.
Fig. 83.
It was the work of Louis David, and dates from the middle of the
sixteenth century.
Nuremberg and Augsburg pursued the manufacture of portable
timekeepers with considerable spirit. The plain square brass towers,
Portable Timekeepers.
87
round and octagonal boxes, gave place to cases of a much more
ornate design when expense was no object. A very choice example
from Dubois' historical work is shown in Fig. S2 ; it is of iron,
damascened with precious metals, a style of work for which Augsburg
was particularly famous.
Several good representative specimens belonging to the King of
Saxony are to be seen in Dresden, part of them in the treasury of
the palace and part in the Historical Museum. In the green vaulted
chambers or treasury of the palace is the so-called Venetian astro-
nomical clock, which is, though, really of German workmanship.
88 Old Clocks and WatcJics and their Makers.
A front view of it is given in Fig. 83, but a photograph naturally
fails to adequately convey the splendour of the case, which is of gold
and silver covered with gorgeous work in enamel, or the extraordinary
complexity of the mechanism. The movement bears no maker's
Fig. 85.
name, but of two somewhat similar clocks of the same collection
one is signed by Andreas Schelhorn, of Schneeberg, in Saxony, 1570,
and the other by Christoph Ullmeyer, of Augsburg.
Of other specimens in the same repository may be mentioned a
table clock of very rich appearance which belonged to the queen of
Portable Timekeepers.
89
Augustus the Strong, and was made, presumably about 1700, by
Jacob Streller, of Nuremberg. Another %ery wonderful clock, the
so-called Hunting clock, the movement of which was made about
1700 by J. G. Graupner, is set in a magnificent case with figures of
huntsmen at the corners and a group representing the legend of
St. Hubert on the top, all enamelled in brilliant colours and blazing
with diamonds and emeralds, the work of Johan Christoph Kohler.
Then there is the famous "Tower of Babel" clock, made in 1602 by
Hans Schlothein, of Augsburg. It is in the form of a tower of gilded
go
Old Clocks and ]Vatches and their Makers.
metal about four feet high, with a gallery in the manner of an
inclined plane running round it spirahvise from top to bottom ; every
minute a little crystal ball comes out of a door at the top of the
Fig. 87.
tower and, running all the way down the spiral gallery, enters a door
at the bottom, when a bell rings.
Of the horological treasures in the Historical Museum at Dresden
I can give three illustrations, and wall begin with the remarkable
Portable Timekeepers.
91
clock of which a view appears in Fig. 84. It was bought in 1587
for 500 gulden of Sebald Schwerzer, who was alchemist to the
Elector Augustus of Saxony (1526 — 1586) and afterwards ennobled
Fig. 88.
by the Emperor Rudolph II., and he is supposed by some to have
been the maker of the clock, though the claim has been disputed.
The silver work of the case bears the mark of Elias Lenker, of
Nuremberg, who died in 1591,
92
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Fig. 85 is a very elaborate clock with eleven dials and automata.
The case is decorated with many beautiful plaques of basse taille
enamel upon silver. It is considered to be the masterpiece of its
maker, Paul Schuster, of Nuremberg; it was bought in 1591, and
so was presumably completed in that year.
'fe-
"^.^
Fig, 89.
In Fig. 86 is another curious clock of the same type, with moving
figures representing an Indian king hunting with elephants. The
maker's name is unknown, but the clock was already in the collec-
tion of the Elector of Saxony in 1587.
There is as well a curious clock which has upon_it the figure of a
Portable TinichccpcVs. 93
man leadinj:,^ a dancing bear ; when the hours strike, the bear beats
a drum, and the man blows a horn. This piece also bears no maker's
name, but it has Augsburg marks and probably dates from the end
of the sixteenth century.
The examples on pp. go and g i are from the Schloss collection. Fig.
87, a sixteenth century production, is notable as being an early instance
of a table clock having provision for striking the quarter-hours.
There are three bells : a large one, concealed by the base ; a smaller
one, enclosed by the gallery above the tower ; and a third, still smaller,
which serves as a canopy over the figure seated above the gallery
on a ball. The quarter-hours are struck on the smallest bell, and
the last hour then repeated on the bell behind the gallery. On com-
pletion of the hour it is sounded on the largest bell. There are two
dials, one on the front and one on the back. On the main dial in
front are shown the hours, and outside the hour numerals are marked,
the quarter-hours, which are indicated by a hand, travelling round in
one hour, but moving independently of the hour hand. The move-
naent bears the signature V.M. in a shield. It has a cross-bar
balance with shifting weights, and there are no fusees. The chasing
of the case is exceedingly good, and the sides of the square part bear
evidence of having been beautifully enamelled with birds and flowers.
Fig. 88 is of later date, and is, I think, Italian work. There are
three dials on the front and one on the opposite face. The movement
is controlled by a pendulum which swings outside of the case at
the back.
In the South Kensington Museum is an Augsburg astronomical
striking table clock, in an engraved brass and damascened iron case.
On the bottom is a sun-dial and the inscription : —
Jacob . Marqvart . von . Avgspvrg . bin . ih . genant .
mein . Nam . ist . in . VVelslandt . gar . vvol . bekant .
der . hat . das . VVercl^ . geraacht . firvvar .
im . 1567 . Jar .
ain . svnenvr . ist . das . genant .
avf . Wels . vnd . Deisch . Landt . erkant .
(I am called Jacob Marquart, of Augsburg ;
My name is quite well known in Italy,
Who has indeed done the work
In the year 1567 ;
This is called a sundial,
Understood (?) in Italy and Germany.)
The hexagonal clock in the form of a temple from the collection
of Prince Soltykoff and shown in Fig. 8g is also a sixteenth century
production. The movement is arranged in stories, the watch part
being at the bottom and the striking work above. The six doors or
t)4 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
panels between the fluted columns are of steel damascened with
arabesques of elegant design. In the arched centre of one of the
panels is the dial with a band of blue steel for indicating the hours
of the day ; various planetary and astronomical motions were shown
on the horizontal dial at the top of the structure. The upper part
of the case in the style of Henri II. is very handsome ; the entablature
is supported at the angles by six caryatides, and in the centre of
each panel is a medallion with the head of a Roman emperor or
Fig. go. — Curious table clock, early si.xteentii century.
warrior sculptured in high relief and surrounded by a gilt border.
A clock similar to the engraving, but surmounted by a statuette, is
in the British Museum.
Curious Octagonal Table Clock. — Some time ago, by favour
of Mr. Charles Shapland, I had through my hands a curious
sixteenth century striking clock of octagonal form, of which a view
is subjoined (Fig. go). This clock, which is now in the British
Museum, is probably of Nuremberg or Augsburg manufacture, and
has a peculiar method of indicating the rising and setting of the sun
daily throughout the year, by means of two thin metal dials within
the hour circle. One of these dials is of silver and the other of steel
for contrast ; each of them forms a segment nineteen twenty-fourths
of a circle, divided by ''adial lines into nineteen parts, which are
numbered at the circumference from one onward in Arabic iigures,
Portable Timekeepers. 95
so that each division is one twenty-fourth of the whole circle. A
brass disc, di\ided into twenty-four, is fixed to the steel dial by rivets
at Nos. I and 3 ; No. 24, or zero point of the circle, coinciding with
what may be called the initial edge of the steel dial. The steel and
silver dials are interlaced — that is to say, the concealed portion of
the steel dial is underneath the silver one, while the initial edge is
above it. At the shortest day in the year the least portion of the
silver dial would be visible, and the figure on the silver dial next to
the initial edge of the steel dial would represent the number of hours
the sun was above the horizon, while the figure on the central brass
circle, which happened to be coincident with the initial edge of the
silver dial, would represent the number of hours he was below the
horizon, and the subdivisions of the hour could he well estimated to
within a tenth.
The dials are continually revolving in opposite directions, so that
as the days lengthened more of the silv-er and less of the steel dial
would be seen. At the close of the longest day the motion of the
dials would be reversed, and the visible surface of the silver dial
would be diminished each day in the same ratio that it was formerly
increased, till the shortest day recurred.
It is probable that these dials were arranged to show the beginning
of the Hebrew day at sunset, as well as its duration and close at the
succeeding sunset.
On removing the dial plate, the way in which the dials are
actuated is apparent. Fitting loosely on the centre wheel which
carries the hour liand is a pinion of twenty-four leaves. The pipe
of this has a cruciform top fitting into the centre of the silver dial.
On the pipe of this pinion is another, larger in diameter, but also of
twenty-four leaves, and with a similar top to carry the steel dial. A
double rack or segment of a wheel, having internal and external
teeth, is pivoted close to the edge of the movement, and engages
with both of the dial plate pinions, the internal teeth being farthest
from the centre of motion, and of such a distance that they reach
beyond the centre arbor and engage with the teeth of the larger
pinion on the other side of it ; the external teeth are so placed that
they engage with the teeth of the smaller pinion, but on the side of
the centre arbor nearest to the centre of motion of the rack.
There is on the plate of the movement, midway between its centre
and its edge and driven from the fusee, a wheel which turns once
a year. This carries a crank, from which is a connecting rod
catching hold of the double rack ; so that, as the crank re\olves, it
96
Old Clocks and Watches and their Maker's.
gives a to-and-fro motion to the racl^. To meet the varying length
of the years from leap year to leap year, there are four pins by which
Fig. 91.
the position of the crank could be altered, but, so far as one could
see, there is no provision for automatic regulation, so that, if the
Portahlc Timekeepers,.
97
reading of the scale is to be exact, the dial would have to be
removed and the position of the crank altered once a year.
Recessed into the under-side of the clock case is an annual dial
engraved with the signs of the zodiac, the titles of the months, and
the days. The index for this is fixed to the arbor of the annual
Fig. 92.
wheel already mentioned, and the annual dial is therefore less than
half the diameter of the movement.
The case is of brass, engraved and gilt. The hour band is of
silver, divided into two periods of twelve hours each, and marked
with Roman numerals. Within the hour ring, and separating it
from the sun rising and setting discs, is a brass gilt ring engraved
with a cable pattern.
c.w. H
98
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
All the dial work, the striking train and the going train wheels,
up to the fusee, are of iron or steel ; the connection between the
fusee and barrel is by a catgut, and the balance is very light, of the
Fig. 93.
(Havani, Dictionnairc de I'Ameublcment.)
old cross-bar pattern, but with weights riveted on with no provision
for after-adjustment. There is, of course, no balance spring. The
hours are struck on a cap-shaped or cylindrical bell.
In the construction of this timekeeper there is not a single screw
Poriahic Tiiuckccpcrs,
99
used. All fastenings are either pins or wedge-shaped keys or
rivets.
The quaint hexagonal striking and alarum table clock shown in
Fig. 91 is a mid-sixteenth century production from the Schloss
collection. On the six faces of the case are engraxed allegorical
figures representing the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and
Venus, corresponding to the days of the week from Sunday to
Friday, and, on the bottom of the case, Saturn for Saturday. A
little door seen on the face innuediately to the right of the dial
Fig. 94.
permits the inspection of the fusee in order to estimate the period for
winding. The movement is arranged in stories, the striking
mechanism below and the going part above, the hemispherical
bell being supported from the upper plate and covered by a perforated
dome. On the upper surface of the plinth is the maker's punch
mark, a square shield with M.H.B. arranged as a monogram.
The example engraved in Fig. 92 is from the Soltykoff collection.
The case appears to be a reproduction in miniature of a mediaeval
hexagonal fortress. It is a striking clock, probably German, dating
from about 1560. In the Webb collection at the South Kensington
H 2
100
Old Clocks and Watches and their Maker's.
Museum is a somewhat similar clock ; the bottom of the case is
stamped " AIX* A* P" (perhaps for Aix in Provence).
"Nef," or Ship clocks, were a peculiar fancy of the sixteenth
century. There is one in the British Museum, by Hanns Schlott,
dating from about 1580, which is supposed to have belonged to
Rudolf II., and another in the Vienna Treasury. The clock
mechanism included provision for showing various astronomical
Fig. 95.
movements, and was quite subsidiary to the ship and its appurtenances,
as will be gathered from the excellent example given in Fig. 93.
In Fig. 9-1- is shown a German octagonal clock from the Soltykoff
collection.
Early Clock with Minute Hand. — At the South Kensington
Museum is a clock, in an elegant case of metal gilt, in the form of a
temple, as shown in Fig. 95. Its height is 13^ in. and its width
Port able Timekeepers.
lOI
8 in. It is most elaborately chased and engraved with figures and
arabesques. The pierced dome covers two bells, and is surmounted
by a figure standing on a globe. The base is chased with masks
'AW J
and cartouche ornaments, with winged horses at the angles, and a
dial on each of the four sides showing, besides the hours and
minutes, motions of various heavenly bodies. This choice and
interesting timekeeper, which formed part of the Bernal collection,
102
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
was produced at Munich, and is dated 1587. Every minute is
ficrured from i to 60, as was the custom on early timekeepers with
minute hands. Though the presence of the concentric minute hand
on sixteenth century work is exceptional, there is nothing to lead
one to suppose that it is in this case an addition to the original
construction ; and providing the minute hand would certainly
present no difficulty to the mind capable of devising such intricate
mechanism as is contained in the astronomical motions of this clock.
I recently saw another clock of very similar character, which
was inscribed, " asmus birln b
RYNLR IN AVGVSTA VINDLLICORUM
1577," and the letters A.B. formed
into a monogram.
A somewhat similar portable
clock (Fig. 96) from the Soltykofif
collection is about 15 in. high and
10 in. across the base, which is
supported by four heraldic lions.
There are five dials, two on the
front face and one on each of the
others ; they mark the hours of
the day, the day of the month, the
phases of the moon, the signs of the
zodiac, and the course of certain
planets.
Til is clock bears no maker's
name, but a very similar one, also
in the Soltykoff collection, was
inscribed, "Andreas Muller, Tris-
ten." It is probably mid-sixteenth
century work.
The next example, from the South Kensington Museum, is an
elegant form of medallion clock in a rock-crystal case, on a stem,
as shown in Fig. 97. The plinth is of metal gilt, with crystal
plaques, and contains the striking train. The remainder of the
movement is in the upper case. The longer of the two hands,
which at the first glance seems to be a minute hand, really points
to the day of the month marked on a ring outside the hour ring.
The age of the moon is shown by a revolving gilt plate behind the
dial, which is cut away to make the moon plate visible. The total
height is 7^ in. It is signed "j. Wolf, W'ienn," and dated 1609,
Fig. 97.
Portable Tiiiickccpcrs.
103
but the name "J. \\'olf" appears on examination to be a recent
addition. It was formerly in the Bernal collection.
The table clock represented in Fig. 98 resembles one at South
Kensington Museum, which, as already mentioned, was probably
made by Peter Hele, except that in the present example the body
of the case is square. It is of brass gilt, with bold mouldings as
shown, and very nicely engraved. Rising from this is a hemi-
spherical dome pierced to emit the sound of the bell which it
I'IG. 9,S.
covers, and supporting above it a horizontal dial. The arrange-
ment of placing the bell between the movement and the dial allows
a handsome and appropriate design with which no fault can be
found, except, perhaps, that in order to keep the dial from over-
shadowing the dome it is necessarily rather small. On the exterior
of the bottom of the case is engraved the word Vallhn. The
Roman numerals I. to XII. are engraved on a silver band, and
within are smaller Arabic figures, 13 to 24.
The chief plate of the movement is square and pinned to the
104
old Clocks and ]]'a'chcs and their Makers.
upper part of the square box. Running vertically inside the box
are two feathers; these pass through notches in the lower plate of
the movement ; two turn-buckles on the lower plate butt against
the ends of the feathers, and so secure the box after it is placed
over the movement. The hand is driven from a pinion on the great
wheel by means of an arbor, which passes through the post to which
the bell is secured. It is
probably a late sixteenth
century French produc-
tion.
In Fig. gg is shown a
table clock, apparently
English, dating from about
1580, in a square brass
case, gilded and beauti-
fully engraved. It belongs
to Mr. J. Hall, and very
closely resembles one by
Bartholomew Newsam,
which is at the British
Museum and illustrated in
Chapter V.
A good example of early
seventeenth century table
clocks is shown in Fig. 100.
It is in a brass case, with
silver hour ring, divided
into twelve, and a fciir-
de-lis midway between each
hour. The characteristic
features which note the
departure from the earliest
specimens are the glass
panels in the sides of the case and the bronze feet, which give a
better effect than is obtained with the primitive flat hexagonal and
octagonal clocks, besides allowing space for the bell to project below
the bottom surface of the case.
The cocks and hammer are very nicely engraved and pierced, and
on the plate is the name Johan Scheirer. A balance spring has
been applied subsequently to the manufacture of the piece, and as
the original balance cock is retained, the spring is much cramped.
Fig. 99.
Portable Tiiiu'kcc'prrs.
105
The balance appears to be the original one and is weighted with
pieces of metal to keep the vibration sufficiently s'ow after the
addition of the spring. A notable peculiarity is that the fly pinion
has but four leaves.
The handsome striking and alarum clock shown in Fig. loi is
from the Soltykoff collection. It bears no indication of its origin,
but the monogram G.O. engra\-ed on it leads to the conjecture tliat
it belonged to Gaston of Orleans, son of Henry IV.
Early Clock with Balance Spring. — The interesting clock
shown in Fig. 102 I saw recently at Messrs. Thwaites and Reed's.
Fig. 100.
In the centre of the dial is a plate with the moon's age marked on it
and carrying the hour hand ; concentric with this a disc with a
round hole showing the phases of the moon and age. In front, and
also concentric with these, is an alarm dial with hands. This turns
once in 24 hours. The wheel carrying the hour hand and moon's
age has 60 teeth, the one carrying the disc showing the phases
and age of the moon 61 teeth, and the wheel carrying the alarm
dial 60 teeth. The two wheels showing the moon's age and hour?
are dri\en by a pinion of 20, and the alarm wheel by a pinion of 10,
both fixed on same arbor, which makes one revolution in four
hours.
The clock strikes one blow at the first quarter, two at the second,
io6
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
three at the third, and four at the hour, besides the ordinary hours
from I to 12 ; and then repeats the hours at any interval the clock
is set for : that is, one, two, three, or more minutes after the ordinary
Fig. ioi.
hours are struck. This part strikes the hours up to 24, and while
striking the figure on the top of the clock revolves. There is a
separate train for each part, and the chain on the fusee of the going
Portable I'iinckccf^crs.
107
part has the appearance of having been made at the same time as
the clock. The other springs are in brass barrels screwed to the frame
Fig. 102.- Clock with early balance spring.
The small dial indicates quarter-hours only, and the hand makes
a revolution in one hour. There are two hands on this •, the under
loS
Old Clocks and Watches and tliciv Makers.
Fig. 103.
Fig. 104. — Plan, showing dial.
Portable Tiiuckccpcvs.
109
one is to set the inter\'al between tlie ordinary strikint^ and the
24-hour striking.
The escapement is of course a verge. It has a plain circular
i A
^ i
B
f f;'ti^B
If
in
Vn^^^^^^H
i
■*- ^syV^^^^P^^ ^^^Bl
Fig. 105.
balance rather large in diameter. Over the balance is a straight
spring, one end of which is fixed to the plate, the free end being
embraced by two pins standing up from the rim of the balance, and
so acting as a controller.
no Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Fig. ic6.
Portable Timekeepers.
Ill
On the bottom of the clock is engraved the following inscrip-
tion : —
A.D. 1634. Adam Klyzovicz Kiakonii; FilCIt Polonvs.
Two views of an exceedingly pretty early seventeenth century
alarum table clock of small size from the Schloss collection are
given in Figs. 103 and 104. The case is of brass gilt, the exterior
of the bottom and the under-side of the movement plate are covered
I'iG. 107.
(Havard, Dictionnairc dc I'Amcublement.)
Fig. iCt
with beautiful engraving, and over the body of the case is a silver
ring or jacket with piercing so fine as to appear almost like filigree
work. The dome, of silver, similarly pierced, covers a hemi-
spherical bell, and supports the horizontal dial, on which are engraved
the horary numerals in Roman characters, the time being indicated
by a projecting ornament at the edge of the centre, which rotates
and is figured as a guide for setting the alarum hand.
Seventeenth Century Pendulum Clocks. — Fig. 105 repre-
sents the front of an astronomical clock by Marcus Bohm, Augsburg.
It is 21 in. high and 10 in. wide, engraved, chased, and gilded.
Under the dome, which is hammered out of one piece of metal, are
two bells, the smaller being struck at the quarters, and the larger at
112
Old Clocks and ]]^atchcs and their Makers.
the hours and as an alarum. By adjustment at pleasure the clock
can be made to sound the hours from i to 12 or from i to 24. The
large dial shows the time, the length of days, and a calendar of
saints. In front hangs the pendulum, the bob being in the form of
a cherub. The back is very similar to the front ; the main dial
there indicates the annual course of the astral world. Some of the
1
^1
1
1
^^^H
i
KB
^^H
^^^^^^^^^^H
1 - .^t^
^^^^^^^^^^H
■
#1 ^
I
Fig. log.
subsidiary dials on the front, back, and sides exhibit other motions,
and the remainder are for adjustment and regulation of the
mechanism.
At the Ashmolean Museum is a fine German astronomical clock
22I in. high, belonging to Mr. Henry J. Pfungst. The case is of
gilt metal with dials on each of the four sides, of which the chief one
is seen in Fig. 106. On the opposite side to that shown in the
Vovtablc Timekeepers
11^
engraving a pendulum is suspended. The dials are of silver,
decorated with basse faille enamel red, white, blue, and green.
During the latter part of the sixteenth and the first half of the
seventeenth century, timepieces with horizontal dials o\er which a
dome containing an alarum could be placed at pleasure were in
favour. There are several in the British Museum. An early
Fig. iio.
example is shown in Fig. 107. Fig. 108, from the Schloss collec-
tion, is of a rather later date. Three springy legs fixed to the alarm
were made to clasp the outside of the dial of the timepiece in such a
position that a wire depending from the alarm case was moved by
the hand at the hour it was desired the alarm should be discharged.
These timepieces must have been exceedingly useful before the
advent of lucifer matches, when recourse had to be made to the
tinder box in order to obtain a light ; but, apart from these and
machines with complicated movements such as were designed by
c.w. I
ii4 Old Clocks and IVafchcs and their Makers,
Fig. III.
Portable Tiuichccpcrs.
115
astronomers, regard seems to liave been more generally paid to the
effectiveness of the exterior as a whole rather than to its fitness and
Fig. 112.
convenience for showing the hour. Some instances of the more or
less grotesque conceptions then in favour are appended, most of
them being from the Schloss collection.
I 2
ii6 Old Clocks and ]VatcJiLS and their Makers.
Fig. 109 shows a crowned lion of gilt copper holding an orb in its
right paw and supporting the dial with its left. By means of two
wires standing up from the balance the eyes, which have bright red
pupils, move to and fro when the clock is going. x\s the hours are
iij-
struck the animal's lower jaw moves up and down The movement
is contained in an ebony box, which forms the plinth.
A dog guarding the dial with its paw, as shown in Fig. no, is of
much the same character.
Portable Timekeepers.
117
Fig. Ill shows a splendid example of its kind, in which a boldly
modelled figure of Bacchus sitting astride a cask is utilized as an
automaton. As the hours are struck it opens its mouth and raises
to its lips the bottle held in the right hand. In its left hand is a
staff entwined with grape leaves and fruit and surmounted by a
pineapple, the Augsburg mark. On a silver dial attached to the
front of the cask the hours are indicated, and at the back, between a
pineapple in a shield, are the letters C. K., which very possibly
ii8
Old Clocks, and WatcJies and their Makers.
stand for Conrad Kreizer, a well-known early seventeenth century
maker. Just in front of the cask is a horizontal dial divided into
quarter-hours for settinf^ the striking. The eyes of the figure move
to and fro continuously while the clock is going; but instead of being
connected directly to the balance, as in the preceding examples, they
Portable TiincT^ccpcr^.
119
are worked by a separate escapement and ingenious mechanism
actuated by the fusee wheel which drives the train. In this way the
motion of the eyes is slower, and the timekcepin.i,^ of the clock is not
Fig. iiG.
affected. The plates of the movement are gilded, and the train
wheels are of steel. The case is of ebony.
A peculiar early seventeenth century striking clock is shown in
Fig. 112. As the hours are sounded the negro's head moves, and
120
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
the dog at his feet jumps. He indicates the time on a revolving
band which bears the hour numerals. Another of these quaint
conceptions is in the British Museum.
On similar lines are Figs. 113 and 114. The one with a revolving
Fig. 117. — Crucifix clock.
hollow globe, on which the hours are marked, dates from about 1650;
the female figure bearing the horary numerals on a revolving
crown and holding a sceptre and child with an orb is a little later.
The movement of this is inscribed " Jereme Pfaff, Augsburg."
Porlahlc Tiutckccpcrs.
121
In Fig. 115 is a clock with three horizontal band dials showing
respecti\ely the hour, the day of the week, and the day of tlie
!iK)nth. Below are pourtrayed Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden. As the hours are struck live turns and presents an apple
to Adam, who appears to hesitate, and then retires, refusing the
gift. Abundance of foliage and fruit is spread over the three trees
or columns supporting the dials, while a huge serpent gazing
menacingly at Adam is twined around the central trunk, and
indicates the hour with its tail. For the photograph from which
this is reproduced I am indebted to M. Eugene W'ehrle, of Brussels.
The flagellation of Jesus Christ forms the sidiject of the clock
with movinj? fi<rures which is shown in Fig. 116. An hour dial is at
Fig. iiS.
the feet of the Captive, whose bound hands are tied to a post, sur-
mounted by a rotating band, on which the quarter-hours are
engraved. As the hour strikes the passive Prisoner is belaboured
by the soldiers, their weapons rising and falling with each sound of
the bell. The movement contained in the ebony case is signed
" Nicolaus Schmidt der Junger."
The crucifix clock represented in Fig. 117 belongs to Mr. Schloss.
The drawing is one-third of the actual size of the clock, which measures
12 in. in height and 6 in. across the widest part. The plinth is
made of wood and gilt metal, the top being covered with cloth or
velvet, now very much worn. The cross is of gilt metal, the figures
and mounts of silver. The figure on the cross is most beautifully
modelled. St. John, standing at the left of the cross, holds in his
122
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
hands a chalice, which he raises when the clock strikes the hours.
The ball surmounting the structure revolves once in twelve hours,
and on it is a band containing the Roman hour numerals, the time
being indicated by the pointer fixed to the cross. No minutes are
shown, and subdivisions of an hour would have to be estimated.
The escapement is, of course, a verge. The clock goes thirty hours
Fig. iig.
between windings, and strikes on a bell below the plinth. Portions
of the movement can be seen through apertures in chased metal
gratings fixed in the front and back panels of the plinth. There is
no maker's name, but it is probably a French seventeenth century
production.
The style and decoration of the late seventeenth century clock,
shown in Fig. ii8, may be studied with advantage by those who
Poviahlc Timekeepers. 123
wish to bs alile to distinguish pieces of different, periods. The orna-
ment at the sides of tlie case is in bold rehef ; tlie feet are of bronze,
as was the usual practice, and form a contrast to the yellower metal
of whicli tlie case is composed. The mo\ement of this clock is
regulated by a x'cry short balance-spring, and bears the signature
" Andreas I'ehniel.""
Fig. iig shows a diminutive table clock by Hanns Buschman
dating from about \(uyi. 'i'here are dials front and back, and a
pendulum which swings at the rear outside of the case.
Janvier speaks of the watches made between 1560 and 1590 as
being beautifully ornamented and of all sizes, and there is no doubt
that by the last-named date watchmaking had become in France a
flourishing art of considerable magnitude, Blois and Rouen being
two of the most important seats of manufacture. But I am unable
to trace any reliable evidence of English watches having been made
before quite the end of the sixteenth century, although German and
French productions were doubtless imported earlier.
Among the collection of Mr. T. Wliitcombe Greene is an early
box-shaped, metal gilt case and dial, probably of German make.
Around the projecting bead at the bottom of the case is engraved
the following : " Sr. W'm Cooper to Eleanor, daughter of Sr.
Michael Stanhope, wife to Thomas Cooper, his son, of Thurgarton,
Co. Nots, 1539." A coat-of-arms is engraved on the cover. The
dial is engraved with the figure of the Saviour and emblems of
Death, with the mottoes, " \'igilate et orate quia nescitis horam,"
and "Quaelibet hora ad mortem vestigium " ("Watch and pray, for
ye know not the hour," and " Everv hour is a step towards death").
If the dedicatory inscription is an authentic record, this relic
certainly represents one of the first table watches seen in England.
The case has no bow. Derham, in his second and subsequent
editions, mentions an eight-day watch which, he was told, belonged
to Henry \TII., but the context clearly shows a weight timepiece is
referred to. Among the possessions of Edward VI., as quoted by
Wood from a Royal Household Book, is " oone larum or watch of
iron, the case being likewise of iron gilt, with two plummettes of lead."
The first words of this description may seem to indicate a watch with
a mainspring, but such an assumption is at once dispelled by the
mention of the " plummettes of lead."
Queen Elizabeth. — That Elizabeth owned a large number of
watches is certain, and the following relating to her horological
possessions will be of interest. In 1571 the Earl of Leicester gave
124 ^^^ Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
to his royal mistress "one armlet or shakell of golde, all over fairely
garnished with rubyes and dyamondes, haveing in the closing thearof
a clocke." In the same year two other gifts are mentioned, a "juell,
being a chrsolite garnished with rubyes and dyamondes, haveing in
the closing thearof a clocke"; and "a juell, being a chrsolite
garnished with golde, flagon facyon, th'one side sett with two
emeraldes, . . . th'other side having in it a clocke." In 1573
Elizabeth received from Margaret, Countess of Derby, "a white
beare of gold and mother of perle, holding a ragged staffe, standing
upon a toune of golde, whearin is a clocke, the same toune staffe
garnished with dyamondes and rubyes." The "clock and all"
weighed three ounces. In 1575 Mr. Hatton, captain of the guard,
gave the queen "a riche juell, being a clocke of golde, garnished
with dyamondes, rubyes in the bottome, and a fayre emeralde
pendante sett in golde and two mene perles pendaunte, all ix oz.
iii q''." In 1578 the Earl of Leicester presented Elizabeth with "a
tablet of golde, being a clocke fully furnished with small diamondes
and rubyes ; abowte the same are six bigger diamondes pointed)
and a pendaunte of golde, diamondes, and rubyes very smale. And
upon eche side losengye diamonde, and an apple of golde enamuled
green and russet." In the same year the Earl of Russell gave to
the queen " a ring of golde, called a parmadas, sett with vj small
diamonds and garnished round about with small rubies and two
sparcks of ophalls, and in the same backeside a dyall." In 1580
the Earl of Leicester gave her " a cheyne of golde made like a
payre of beades concayning viii long peeces fully garnished with
small diamondes, and fower score and one smaller peeces fullie
garnished with like diamondes ; and hanging thereat a rounde clocke
fullie garnished with dyamonds, and an appendante of diamondes
hanging thearat." In the same year was presented to the queen by
Lord Russell, " item, a watche sett in mother of pearle with three
pendaunts of goulde garnished with sparckes of rubyes, and an
ophall in everie of them, and three small pearles pendaunte." In
the same year Mr. Edward Stafford gave her "a little clocke of
goulde with a cristall, garnished with sparckes of emeraldes, and
furnished on the back syde with other dyamondes, rubies, and other
stones of small value." There were also many humbler contributors
to her store. In 1556 her clockmaker, Nicholas Urseau, presented
"a faire clocke in a case cover with blake vellat"; and her "clocke
keeper, John Demolyn, a cloke with a lambe on it of copper guilt."
The following is from an inventory of the possessions of Queen
Portable Timekeepers. 125
Elizabeth: — "A watche of golde sett witli small rubies, small
diamondes, and small emerodes, with a pearle in the toppe called
a buckett, watinge two rubies ; a clocke of golde conteyning in
the border four table diamonds and two very small rocke rubies,
havinge on th'one side foure table rubies and sixe small diamondes ;
and on th'other side eleven table diamondes, whereof the one is
more bigger than the residue. On the one side a man sitting aslepe
with a childe before him ; a clocke or tablett of golde garnished on
th'one side with five faire diamondes and one faier rubie ; and on
th'other side five faire rubies and one faire enierod garnished with
lij little diamonds, and liij litle rubies, with a pearle pendant at it ;
one clocke of golde curiosly wrought and fullie furnished with
diamonds, rubies, emerodes, and opalls, havinge in middes thereof
a beare and a ragged stafife of sparkes of diamondes and rubies;
one clock of gold curiously wrought with flowers and beastes, with
a queene on the toppe on th'one side; and on the other side a beare
and a ragged staff of sparkes of diamonds, fullie furnished with
diamonds and rubies of sundry sortes and bignes ; one emerode
under it, a faier table diamond with a ragged stafif in the foyle
thereof and a faier rubie under it squared, and a pearle pendaunt
of either side of the clocke ; one clocke of golde wrought like
deyses and paunseyes, garnished with little sparks of diamonds,
rubies, and emerodes, and eight small pearles on the border, and
a pendant acorn ; one clocke of gold curiously wrought with small
sparkes of stones, having on th'one side a horse bearing a globe
with a crowne over it ; one clocke of golde with a George on both
sides garnished with sparkes of diamondes and a pendant of opalls;
a litle watche of christall slightly garnished with golde ; one litle
clocke of golde th'one side being agate with a mouse on the toppe
and heddes round aboute it ; one litle watch of golde garnished on
the border with very small sparkes of rubies and emerodes with
christall on both sides, and a pearle pendand garnished with golde
like a flesh flye ; one rounde clocke of golde enameled with a man
on horseback, and divers colors aboute it ; a watch of golde garnished
with three small diamondes and eight sparks of rubies, with a very
little pearle ; one little clocke of golde enameled of the History of
Time ; a litle watche of golde, th'one side with a frogge on the
topp, th'other side garnished with small garnets like a pomegranite ;
one litle clocke sett in eliotropie and garnished with golde ; a litle
watche of golde enameled with sundry colors on both sides alike;
a litle watche of christall slightlie garnished with golde, with her
126
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Ma'ties picture in it; one faier flower of golde fully garnished with
rubies and diamonds enameled on the backside with a man and
a scripture about him having a watch in it and a pearl pendant;
one flower of gold fully garnished with emerods of sondrie bignes
and sparkes of emerods and rubies, with thre antique women and
five litle perles with a watch or clocke therein; a watch of agatte
made like an e";"; garnished with golde ; one clocke garnished
Fig. 1 20. — Clock-watch about 15S0.
with golde, being round and sett with 6 table diamondes and 6
rubies in the same border, and garnished with xvij diamondes on
th'one side, and 8 diamonds and one rubie on th'other side, lacking
two pearles."
In Fig. 120 is shown a clock-watch from the Hilton Price
collection. It is in a polygonal case, which measures nearly 4 in.
across. On the top plate of the movement is the mark B x N,
and the piece, which dates from about 1580, is very possibly the
production of Bartholomew Newsam.
l\i liable Timekeepers.
127
Mr. Edward I'arr has a watch or table clock dating' from about
1581, and probably of English make. It is in a circular case, about
4-^ in. in diameter, as shown in I'ij^^ 121. A lar<j^e hemispherical
bell rises from the space inside the dial rini^, and the hand is curved
down o\er the bell to read the hour numerals. The head of ()ueen
Elizabeth in high relief, and other chasing, ornament the side of the
case. In a ring on the bottom of the case is the inscription :
POSVI DEVM ADIVTOREM MEVM.
(I have placed God as my Helper.)
Against one of the winding holes is the letter W, and against the
other the letter S ; these stand doubtless for Watch and Striking,
and strengthen the conclusion that the clock is an early English
production.
Skull Watches — Mary Queen of Scots. — The skull watch
(Fig. 122) is an excellent example of the fantastic forms in which
some of the early makers delighted to encase their work. It is from
t2l
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
the Soltykoff collection, and is said to have belonged to Henri III.
The case is of crystal, the dial of silver bordered with chased brass
gilt, the centre being adorned with what is called champ-leve engraving
to a floral design. The movement is inscribed "Jacques Joly."
Fig. 123 represents one of the ghastly productions of a larger size.
The skull is of silver gilt, and on the forehead is the figure of Death
with his scythe and sand glass ; he stands between a palace on the
one hand and a cottage on the other, with his toes applied equally
to the door of each ; around this is the legend, from Horace : —
" Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas regumque turres."
(Pale Death visits witii impartial foot the cottages of the poor and the palaces of
the rich.)
Fig. 122.
On the opposite or posterior part of the skull is a representation
of Time, with anotlrer inscription from Horace: —
" Tempus edax rerum tuque invidiosa vetustas."
(Time, and thou too, envious Old Age, devour all things.)
He has a scythe ; and near him is a serpent with his tail m his
mouth, being an emblem of Eternity.
The upper part of the skull is divided into two compartments.
On one are represented our First Parents in the Garden of Eden,
attended by some of the animals, with the motto : —
"Peccando perditionem miseriam asternam posteris mernere."
(By sin they brought eternal misery and destruction on their posterity.)
The opposite compartment is filled with the subject of the
salvation of lost man by the crucifixion of our Saviour, who is
represented as suffering between two thieves, whilst the Marys are
in adoration below ; the motto to this is : —
" Sic justitiae satis fecit mortem superavit, salutem comparavit."
(Thus was Justice satisfied, Death overcome, and salvation obtained.)
Portable Timekeepers.
12^
Running below these compartments on both sides there is an
open work, of about an inch in width, to permit the sound to come
out freely when the watch strikes. This is formed of emblems
belonging to the Crucifixion — scourges of various kinds, swords, the
flagon and cup of the Eucharist, the cross, pincers, lantern used in
the garden, spears of different kinds, one with the sponge on its
point, thongs, ladder, the coat without seam, and the dice that were
Fig. 123.
thrown for it, the hammer and nails, and the crown of thorns.
Under all these is the motto : —
" Scala coeli ad gloriam via."
(The way to glory is the " ladder " to heaven.)
The watch is opened by reversing the skull and placing the
upper part of it in the hollow of the hand, and then lifting the
under-jaw, which rises on a hinge. Inside, on the palate, is an
excellent engraving of apparently a later date than the rest of
the work. It shows the Holy Family in the stable, with the infant
Jesus laid in the manger, and angels mmistering to Him ; in the
upper part an angel is seen descending with a scroll, on which is
written : —
" Gloria [in] excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bona voluntatis."
(Glory to God in the highest ; on earth peace to men of goodwill.)
C.W. K
130
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers-.
In the distance are the shepherds with their flocks. A representa^
tion of this cover is given separately*
The works of the watch occupy the position of the brain in the
skull itself, the dial plate being on a flat where the roof of the niouth
and parts behind it under the base of the brain are to be found in the
human subject* The dial is of silver, and fixed with a golden circle
tichly carved in a scroll pattern; the hours 'are marked in large
Roman letters, and within them is the figure of Saturn devouring
his children, with this legend : —
" Sicut meis sic et omnibus idem."
There is no date, but the maker's name and the place of
manufacture, " Moyse, Blois,"
are distinctly engraven on the
plate. A silver bell fills the
entire hollow of the skull, and
receives the works within it
when shut ; a small hammer,
set in motion by a separate
train, strikes the hours on it.
The workmanship of the
case is admirable, and the
engraving really superb. The
date of this relic may be taken
to be between 1550 and 1600.
It is stated that it belonged
to Mary Queen of Scots, by
whom it was given to Mary
Seaton, one of her maids of
honour, and much circum-
FiG. 124. — Interior of skull watch above
the dial.
stantial evidence has been adduced in support thereof. I have recently
had an opportunity of examining an almost similar Death's-head
watch, which is also said to have been the property of the same
royal lady and now belongs to Miss Mary Laura Browne, of Anerley.
Except that beside the ring on the top of the skull is a screw for the
reception of a cross, the case is an exact facsimile of the Mary Seaton
one, with the additional inscription around the eyebrows, " Ex Dono
FR^ R. Fr. ad. Marias de Scotorum Fr. Regina." The original
movement has, however, unfortunately been replaced by a com-
paratively modern one.
These two skull watches were doubtless intended to occupy
stationary positions ; the cross on one of them suggests a prie-dieti
Portable Timekeepers.
13^
or small altar in a private oratory. At all events, they are too large
and heavy to be worn on the person. The engravings represent the
'■,i\!kt07A07
Fig. 125.
l'"lG. 126.
Fig. 127.
Fig. 12S.
Fig. 129.
natural size of the relics, each of which weighs over three-quarters
of a pound.
In the British Museum are two Death's-head watches, much
K 2
132 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
smaller and with plain cases. One of these was made by Johann
Maurer, and the other by J. C. Vuolf. A similar watch, dating from
about 1630, which was in the Dunn Gardner collection, and is now
in the possession of Mr. F. G. Hilton Price, F.S.A., bears the
signature of Isaac Penard. Another of these extraordinary con-
ceptions, formerly in the collection of Mr. Robert Roskell, of Liver-
pool, and now belonging to Mr. Schloss, is shown in Figs. 125 and
126. The skull or case of silver, much darkened by age, is a
startlingly excellent counterfeit and a fine example of silver work.
The plate bears the name of the maker thus, "Johann Leudl."
On the dial of silver is an engraving evidently intended to portray
the day of judgment. Inside the lower jaw, which closes on to
the dial, is roughly cut the following inscription : " Lor logeur
francoient duducq d'aremberque a mons." This specimen dates
from about 1625 ; but the inscription is later, as the first Duke of
Aremberg obtained his title in 1644.
A very diminutive Death's-head watch in the form of a seal is
shown open in Fig. 127. The movement is furnished with the
stackfreed, and dates apparently from the first half of the seventeenth
century.
Of about the same period is the example by David Habrecht,
shown in Figs. 128 and 129.
In the Vienna Treasury is a small skull watch of the time of the
Emperor Rudolph II. in which the movable lower jaw strikes the
number of hours against the upper one.
The Rev. H. L. Nelthropp, who presented his splendid collection
of watches to the Clockmakers' Company for exhibition in the
Guildhall, considers the statements as to the ownership of skull
watches by Mary Queen of Scots to be apocryphal, and says that a
careful investigation of the catalogues of the jewels, dresses,
furniture, belonging to Queen Mary has proved beyond doubt
that watches were not among her valuables. I cannot say that
Mr. Nelthropp's criticism is quite destructive of the original account,
for if both of the watches were given away by the queen, they could
hardly be expected to figure in any subsequent inventory of her
property. It is certain that watches were made during her lifetime ;
also that Blois was one of the earliest manufactories of watches, and
that the family of Moyse flourished there during the sixteenth century.
In face of the fact that Elizabeth had such a large number of watches,
it seems almost incredible that the Scottish queen should never have
possessed any of the fashionable novelties.
Portable Timekeepers. 133
While the probability is that Mary Queen of Scots had watches
of some kind, it must be confessed that the statements made
respecting her ownership of specimens which have survived will not
always bear examination. Among others which tradition has
assigned to the Scottish queen, Octavius Morgan examined two
which he considered to be of the period claimed for them. One
was a ghastly Memento Mori watch in a case of crystal formed like a
coffin, and the other an octagonal watch. The latter, which is now
in the British Museum, is said to have been given by Mary to John
Knox the reformer. The case of crystal had covers front and back,
and the movement was inscribed " N. Forfaict a Paris." A large oval
watch made by F. Le Grand, and said to ha\e been found, immedi-
ately after the queen's escape from her imprisonment, in Lochleven
Castle, was exhibited to the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh in
1850. A small circular watch by Estinne Hubert, of Rouen, pre-
sented, it is averred, by the queen the night before her execution to
a French attendant named Massey, was a few years ago in the pos-
session of Rev. Mr. Torrance, of Glencross. In the Massey- Main-
waring collection is a round rather thin watch by Moysant, of Blois,
in a case whereon is splendidly painted, in enamel, a representation
of the Adoration of the Magi. This watch was some time ago
exhibited at the Bethnal Green Museum with a label stating that it
was given by Mary Queen of Scots to the Earl of Mar, from whom
it passed into the possession of the family of Lord Forbes. But the
style of the watch and the enamel painting did not seem to me to be
entirely in accord with other productions of the sixteenth century.
In 1575, Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, bequeathed to his
brother Richard, Bishop of Ely, his walking-stick of Indian cane
having a " horologium " in the top. This is generally quoted as
a watch, but is quite likely to have been a portable sun-dial.
The possession of many watches is ascribed to James I., but such
as he did possess do not appear to have been utilized as timekeepers
on every occasion, for in Savile's record of a state journey to
Theobalds in 1603, it is stated that the king stopped at the Bell at
Edmonton, and, wishing to count the number of vehicles passing in
a certain time, he " called for an houreglass."
An early striking watch in a nearly spherical case of brass, chased
and gilded, having the dial at the bottom of the sphere and a ring for
carrying at the top, is shown on page 134. The form and arrange-
ment of the mechanism are exceedingly rare. The movement is in
stories, and the dial, which is seen in Fig, 131, is attached to the lowest
134 0^'^ Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
i^^
Figs. 130 — 134. — Spherical watch about 1535.
I, plan of top; 2, dial and case partly opened; 3, elevation ; 4, movement and dial removed
from case : 5, nioyenient showing top plate.
Portable Timekeepers.
135
plate of the movement and not to the case. Between the dial and
the plate, besides the wheels for actuating the hand direct from the
mainspring and not through the intervention of the train, is the
count wheel or locking plate. Above this plate is the striking train ;
then another plate, between which and the top plate are the going
train and escapement. All wheels save the escape wheel are of iron
or steel ; the pillars are of iron shaped as shown, the plates and
balance cock are also of iron : there are no screws nor barrels to
Fig. 135.
Fig. 136.
contain the mainsprings ; one of the mainsprings broken into many
pieces is visible in the engraving (Fig. 133). The case is divided in
the centre horizontally and fastened with a hooked catch ; it opens
on a hinged joint exposing the movement, which occupies the whole
of the lower half of the case and extends into the upper part of the
sphere. Over the top plate, of which a view is given in Fig. 134, are
the primitive stackfreed, the cross-bar balance or foliot and the
hammer for sounding the hours on a silver bell fi.xed to the crown of
the sphere, which is perforated as shown in Fig. 130. Through the
case and the bell are holes for obtaining access to the winding
136
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
squares, and near the bottom of the case is another aperture covered
by a shutter; this apparently was for the purpose of adjusting the
striking of the hours in case it had been allowed to become incorrect.
The movement is fitted to the case in a peculiar way. Inside the
lower half of the case are projections, and the movement together
with the dial having been pressed into position is twisted round till
corresponding slits catch the projections and make it fast. The
fixing is in fact what is known as a bayonet joint. This watch, I
should judge, dates from about 1535. M. Paul Gamier has,
I believe, a somewhat similar one, which was stolen from him a few
years ago, and which he recovered by journeying to America and
repurchasing it.
Towards the end of the sixteenth century watches designed for use
rather than to excite wonder or
admiration were constructed with
plain exteriors, as in Figs. 135 and
136, which show an alarum watch
formerly in the Dunn Gardner col-
lection at South Kensington. The
little hand in the centre of the dial is
for setting the alarum, and the hour
indicator consists of an ornament
attached to a disc around the edge of
which are figures from one to twelve
marked backwards, reversely to the
usual direction, as a guide for setting
the alarum. The hour numerals are
on a silvered band with an unusually prominent pin at each hour
so that the time could be more readily estimated by feeling. The
case is of brass with plain cover and back ; the only attempt at
enrichment being the fine perforated work around the edge.
Fig. 137 shows a tambourine or drum-shaptd watch from the
collection of M. Paul Garnier. The case, brass gilt, is furnished
with a bow% and has hinged covers back and front. The front cover
is finely engraved and is pierced over each of the hour numerals
on the dial. Inside the back cover is a representation of Christ
rising from the tomb, well engraved after the design by Albert
Diirer. The dial is of silver, finely engraved with rays and flames
in the centre, beyond which are the hour marks with Roman
numerals from I. to XII. on the outside of the circle, and smaller
figures from 13 to 24 within.
Fig. 137.
Pari able I'iiuckcepers,
^37
Fig. 138.
138
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
A striking watch in a curious octagonal case of gilded brass fixed
to a stand is shown in Fig. 138. The plates of the movement are of
Fig. 139.
Fig. 140.
iron ; it is fitted with the stackfreed, and its construction altogether
shows it to be a mid-sixteenth century production. An interesting
Portable Timekeeper;;.
139
feature of this watch is the pierced door at the back, which is shown
open in the ilhistration. Amid the piercing are represented the Man
of Sorrows preparatory to the Crucifixion and around Him various
items appertaining to His torture — a hammer, pincers, sponge, lamp,
ladder, sword, spear or javelin, staves, lanterns, torches, cup, bunch
of hyssop, etc. Two views of a pretty pedestal watch furnished
with an alarum of about forty years later date are given on page 138.
Mr. J. C. Joicey has a somewhat similar piece.
In the British Museum is a splendid watch made by Nicklaus
Rugendas, of Augsburg.
The case of metal, gilt,
with open work very
nicely pierced, is of an
oval shape measuring 2|
inches by 2^ inclies and
an inch and three
quarters thick. It is
mounted on a plain
brass pillar four inches
high. The hours are
shown on a silver dial,
and the minutes on a
gilt bevelled outer rim
which really forms part
of the case. This
arrangement and the
fact that each fi\e
minutes space is figured,
as is the modern custom,
may lead to the assump-
tion that the concentric
minute indicator was a
later addition ; but Octavius Morgan, in whose collection the watch
was, expressed his conviction {Archceologia, vol. xxxiii.) that it formed
part of the original construction, and an examination of the hand-work
which I have been allowed to make quite removed a doubt I previously
felt as to the correctness of his judgment. The internal arrangement
shows considerable ingenuity, every atom of the space being utilized
to the best advantage. There are four mainsprings, but no fusee.
Between the dial and the movement is a small bell on which the
quarter-hours are sounded. The hours are struck from one to six
Fig. 141. — Clock-watch. Type of early German
manufacture.
Fig. 143.
Fig. 144.
Portable Timekeepers.
141
and then over again in conformity with what was formerly an
Italian method of computation, the hour bell being oval to suit the
shape of the case ; at the back is a large bell on which an alarum
may be rung. The train wheels are of brass, and the quarter part of
steel. Mr. Morgan considered this watch to be a production of the
second quarter of the sixteenth century, but the general style of the
work and the construction of the movement negative such an
assumption ; 1610 or a little later would be nearer the correct date.
Messrs. Patek Phillipe and Co. have an octagonal calendar watch
Fig. 145. — View of back.
by the same maker, which, judging from a photograph of the
movement, I should say was produced about 1630.
In the Vienna Treasury is a clock marked "Nicklaus Rugendas
junger," dating from the middle of the seventeenth century.
Fig. 141 is an exterior view of a large circular clock-watch in the
possession of Mr. Evan Roberts. It is unnamed, and is most
probably of German or Dutch origin ; the steel dial and brass open-
work case are very tine, as may be judged from the drawing. The
stackfreed and the wheels are of steel, and the plates of brass. This
watch has been pronounced to be a production of the second quarter
142
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
of the sixteenth century, and the construction in many respects
agrees with that period.
Fig. 146. — Dial with cover open.
Three views of a splendid oval watch from the collection of
Mr, Albert Schloss are on page 140. Fig. 143 shows the dial with the
Portable Timekeepers.
143
front cover raised. Figj. 142 shows the back cover and edge of the
case ; and Fig. 144 the back cover raised, exhibiting the movement.
The case is of brass, gilt and very finely chased. The front cover is
pierced to receive a small glass, allowing the centre of the dial to be
viewed without opening the cover. This style of glass, and the
method of fixing it by means of a loose ring, is perhaps the most
primitive ; and taking the date on the inside of the back cover (1607)
to represent the period the watch was made, it may be assumed to
Fig. 147. French astronomical watch.
be an early instance of the application. The dial, also of brass, gilt,
is very handsome. On looking at the movement (Fig. 144) a lever
carrying two pins at one end and pointed at the other may be
observed. These two pins are of stiff bristle, and by shifting the
lever they may be caused to approach or recede from the arm of the
balance, whose path they intercept. In this way the vibration of
the balance and the timekeeping of the watch were controlled. The
pointed end of the lever traverses a divided arc, and serves to
indicate the movement given to the lever. At the top and bottom of
144
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
the plate are pivoted bolts, which pass into holes in the edge of the
case to secure the movement in position.
In the Hilton Price collection is an oval brass watch of extreme
beauty by the same maker, dating from about 1640. It is shown in
Figs. 149 — 151. — Sixteenth century book-watch. Outside with covers open,
inside of front cover and dial. View of mechanism inside back cover.
Figs. 145 and 146. Round the sides of the pierced case are a
greyhound chasing a hare and a hound chasing a stag amidst floral
designs. The back is finely engraved, representing figures of a
naked shepherd with his crook and horn, a squirrel, and a monkey.
In the centre a river scene, beneath the figure of a warrior in armour
Portable Timekeepers.
145
with a prancing horse on each side, intermixed with scrolls and
flowers. The outside of the lid is engraved with allegorical subjects,
one represents Abraham off'ering up Isaac ; upon the right hand top
corner is a scroll on which is engraved, ian. iansen-bockeltz inv.
ET scvLP. The inside of the lid, which together with the dial plate
is brass gilt, contains a compass and a sun dial with a movable
gnomon. The dial plate is very fine. There is a small silver dial
with alarum dial in the centre, and also a dial for the moon, one for
the minutes, one for months — the seasons are engraved with lenten
HERBST. WINTER.
Adam Thomson mentions an interesting astronomical watch of
French make which is shown in Figs. 147 and 148. It has a silver
Fig. 152.
Fig. 153.
case highly ornamented, with mythological subjects elaborately
chased, bearing the following inscription on the inside of the back
cover : " From Alethea Covntess of Arvndel, for her deare sone, Sir
William Howard, K,B. 1629." It is of an oval form, the extreme
size two inches and a half, and an inch and a half in thickness. It
struck the hours and has an alarum ; showed the days of the week,
the age and phases of the moon, with the days and months of the
year, and the signs of the zodiac. On the inside of the front cover
there is a Roman Catholic calendar with the date 1613. The watch
movement is inscribed " P. Combret, a Lyons." A watch by Combret
with a shell-shaped silver case is in the South Kensington Museum.
Toy Watches. — These were occasionally shaped to imitate
books, animals, fruit, flowers, and insects.
c.w. L
146
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Of cases formed to resemble books several examples are known
to exist. A very early watch of this kind dating from the first half
of the sixteenth century is shown, rather smaller than the actual
size, in Figs. 149, 150 and 151. On the back plate of the movement
is the maker's punch mark, F.C., and another' impression partly
obliterated, which appears to be a pineapple. There is a stackfreed
for regulating the force of the mainspring, and sticking up from the
longer end of a bell-crank lever is a short stiff bristle, against which
Fig. 154. — Lion-shaped watch.
the cross-bar balance banks. By means of its shorter arm this lever
may be moved and its position noted by an index on the plate.
In the British Museum is a book-shaped watch dated 1550. The
specimen shown in Fig. 152 was in the Bernal collection which was
dispersed by auction in 1855, and belonged to Bogislaus XIV.,
Duke of Pomerania, in the time of Gustavus Adolphus. On the
dial side there is an engraved inscription of the Duke and his titles,
with the date 1627, together with his armorial bearings; on the
back there are engraved two male portraits, buildings, etc. The
Portable Timekeepers.
147
covers are of brass gilt ; the clasps and other ornaments are of silver;
the dial is of silver, chased in relief; the insides of the covers are
chased with birds and foliage. There are apparently two separate
movements, and a large bell at the back ; over the bell, the metal
is ornamentally pierced in a circle with a dragon, etc. ; the sides are
Fig. I';';. -c- ^
-'•^ Fig. 156.
pierced and engraved in scrolls. The maker's name is " Dionistus
Hessichti."
Fig- 153' also from the Bernal collection, is in the form of a
padlock. It has a crystal front and ribbed crystal back ; gilt metal
engraved mounting, dial of gilt metal ; the days of the month are
noted on a silver circle, with a steel plate apparently for the moon's
age. The maker's name is Gio. Batt. Mascarone, and it is probably
sixteenth-century work.
L 2
148
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Three views of a peculiar watch, dating probably from about
1600, are given on page 146. The case, of sih^er, is in the form
of a lion, the tail being looped, evidently for the attachment of a
guard or other suspender. The movement is inscribed, "Jean
Baptiste Duhoule." A watch by the same maker in a nut-shaped
case forms part of the Wallace collection at Hertford House.
Of other more quaint and grotesque designs for watch cases
favoured by the early makers may be mentioned one in the form of
Fig. 15^
Fig. 158.
an eagle, which was in the collection of Lady O. Fitzgerald. It
illustrated the story of Jupiter and Ganymede, and could either be
suspended from a ring in the back of the bird or rested by its claws
on a flat surface. In the British Museum is a watch shaped like an
acorn, another resembling a dog, and one with silver cases made in
imitation of cockle-shells. In the South Kensington Museum is a
French watch resembling a pelican, and a diminutive timekeeper
in the Mainwaring collection is concealed in one of two enamelled
cherries with stalks connected.
Portable Timckecpcvi^.
149
Memento Mori watches in the form of a Latin cross, and usuall
with scenes from the life of the Saviour engraved on the dials, were
for a long period a favourite pattern, especially with French artists,
among whom they were known ks montres d'abbcsse. Dubois says
Fig. 159.
Fig. 160.
cruciform watches were probably devised b^^^rmecides, a watch-
maker of Paris, who flourished between 1530 and 1550, and whose
name appears on several early specimens. They appear to have
been worn, generally, on the breast,
and are often spoken of as pectoral
cross watches. Of three in the
British Museum, one, in a case of
rock crystal, very similar to Fig. 1 55,
was made by Jean Rousseau the
elder about 1580; another, also a
sixteenth-century production, is by
Tinnelly, Aix ; the third dates from
the latter part of the seventeenth
century, and is cased in emerald
glass.
The watch, Fig. 156, which is
unnamed, seems to be late six-
teenth century work. Fig. 161.
150
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
In the Arcliaological Journal is mentioned a Latin cross watch by
the celebrated Johannes van Ceulen, which has a cover of crystal
and is enamelled in opaque colours ; on the front the Man of Sorrows
and emblems of the Passion, and on the back the Crucifixion.
Of three cruciform watches in South Kensington Museum, one,
dating from about 1590, is signed " Senebier " ; another, of slightly
later date, bears the initials " N.R." ; and the third, which forms
part of the Salting collection, has a silver and crystal case, and
is by Charles Bobinet, a French seventeenth century maker of
repute.
The Maltese cross watch, Fig. 157, from Dubois' historical work,
Fig. 162.
Fig. 163.
is a sixteenth-century production of French origin, and a much
rarer form than the Latin cross.
A very early crystal case watch by Thomas Franck, from the
Soltykoff collection, is shown in Fig. 158.
In Fig. 159 is shown a clock watch by Conrad Kreizer, from the
Soltykoff collection. The case is of crystal, the dial of silver, and
the cover of brass gilt. A peculiar feature is the oval raised pierced
work of brass, introduced evidently to allow the sound of the bell to
be heard more distinctly. The movement is of a primitive character,
and the maker is said to have been contemporary with the brothers
Habrecht. An octagonal watch in the South Kensington Museum,
signed " Conradt Kreizer," is certainly early seventeenth century
work.
The crystal case watch in the form of a cockle-shell, shown in
Portable Timekeepers.
151
Fig. 160, also from the Soltykoff collection, is a late sixteenth-
century production. It has covers back and front ; the dial is gilt,
with silver hour band and steel hand.
Another specimen from the Soltykoff collection, in a crystal
escallop case, shown in Fig. 161, has very primitive mechanism, by
Phelisot, horlogev dc la ville de Dijon. The dial, finely engraved, is of
silver, with gilt hour band ; the hand is in the form of a lizard.
The pear-shaped watch shown in Fig. 162 was made by Conrad
Kreizer, of Strasbourg, and is also gathered from the Soltykoff
treasures. A similar watch is in the British Museum.
The circular specimen shown in Fig. 163, selected from the same
Fig. 164.
Fig. 165.
repository as the preceding, has covers back and front ; around the
band are figures typical of spring, summer, autumn and winter.
The dial is of silver gilt, with a white band on which the hour
numerals are engraxed. In the centre of the dial is engraved a
representation of Christ and the woman of Samaria ; on the upper
cover is portrayed the spectacle of Mary Magdalene washing the
feet of Jesus, and on the lower cover another Biblical scene. The
movement is inscribed "James Vanbroff," and it dates from about
1605.
Fig. 164, with crystal case in the form of a bonbonniere, is from the
Soltykoff collection. From the movement, which is inscribed
" Denis Bordier," one may judge that it was made about 1640.
152
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Of a little later date is the beautiful specimen by Benjamin Hill,
a well-known London maker, which is shown in Fig. 165.
Of all the quaint fancies exhibited in the formation of early watch
cases, none are, I think, more charming than the various floral
designs popular during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The opening tulip bud, from the Soltykoff collection, which is
shown in Fig. 168, must be admitted to be a very pretty artistic
conceit. The dial and the covers or leaves are of silver, and so is
the twisted stalk that forms a ring for the attachment of a chain or
cord. The movement bears the name of Rugend of x\uch, and dates
from the beginning of the seventeenth century. A very similar
Fig. 166.
Fig. 167.
specimen by Bayr, who was, I think, a Dutch maker, is to'be seen
in the British Museum.
A larger counterfeit of the same flower appears in Fig. 167. The
body of the case is of gold, and there are three bezels or covers of
silver, each comprising a piece of rock crystal formed in the shape
of a tulip petal. The hand is of gold, the dial of silver, with a
landscape engraved thereon. Through one cover the dial is seen,
and through the other two the movement is visible. It has a three-
armed steel balance and a balance -spring. Jean Rousseau the
younger, who is said to have died in 1684, was the maker of this
watch. The presence of a balance-spring would therefore stamp it
as one of his later productions.
There is a splendid tulip watch among the Nelthropp collection
Portable Timekeepers.
T53
at the Guildhall Museum, without a balance spring, by F. Sermand,
dating from about 1650; another at the South Kensington Museum,
and one at the British Museum by Henry Ester.
A very pretty floral watch of an early date, from the Soltykoft
Fig. 16S.
Fig. 1G9.
Fig. 170.
collection, is shown in Figs. 168 and 169. The case is gold, adorned
with fine floral ornaments in green and Cassius purple enamel on
a white ground. The dial is of gold, decorated also in green and
Fig. 171.
F"iG. 172.
purple enamel on a white ground. The plates and train wheels of
the movement are of brass. It is provided with a fusee with catgut
and a circular balance. The movement is signed "J. Jolly," and
dates from about 1600. Fig. 168 shows the dial and edge fairly
154
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
well, but does not give a good idea of the elegant form of the case,
which will be better gathered from Fig. 169, which is a back view
with the cover open.
Fig. 1 70, another diminutive watch
of a later date from the same col-
lection, is in the shape of a poppy
bud. The case is of amber with
mountings of gold, finely engraved
and maintained on the amber by
means of close gold wire running
down the angles to the knob which
holds the ring on which the chain is
to be fastened. The dial is of silver
with enamelled ornaments ; it is
covered with a piece of rock crystal
fitted in a bezel.
Back and front views of a very pretty English watch in the form
Fig.
Fig. 176.
Fig. 178.
Fig. 175.
of a flower bud, which formed part of the Dunn Gardner collection,
and was purchased for the South Kensington Museum, where it may
Portable Timekeepers.
155
be seen, arc given in Figs. 171 and 172, It dates from about 1610,
and is inscribed " Henry Grendon at y Excliange Fecit."
Fig. iSi.
In the British Museum are three watches in the form of insects or
fritillary flowers. One labelled as English work, by Edward Bysse,
156
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
is in a nielloed silver case. Another, also English, in a silver case,
is by Thos. Sande.
The watch case in the form of a basket of flowers (Fig. 173) is of
gold, enamelled and studded with diamonds.
A watch set in a finger ring is shown in Fig.
174.
Figs. 175 and 176 represent an olive-shaped
watch belonging to Mr. Schloss. The case of
gold is beautifully enamelled in green and dark
blue.
Three views are appended, the exact size of an
exceedingly diminutive watch. Its dial and tiny
case of gold are beautifully decorated with
champ Icve enamel, and the movement is fitted
Fig. li
with the primitive stackfreed for regulatmg the force of the
mainspring (Fig. 177). One might with tolerable confidence
say that this is the smallest enamelled watch of the stackfreed
period.
Portable Timekeepers.
157
A pretty star- shaped watch, decorated with enamel and pearls, is
shown to two-thirds the actual size in Fig. 178.
The miniature watch surrounded by a horn or trumpet (Fig. 179)
is engraved to the actual size.
Front and back views of a superb specimen in the form of a
butterfly are given in Figs. 180 and 181. It is impossible to give
more than an idea of the choicely-enamelled back by reproduction
iiA black and white.
J Most of these "toy " watches are of French or Swiss origin. It
Fig. 184. — Striking or clock-watch.
is curious to note in eighteenth-century advertisements the references
to the sellers of them as " toymen."
Irregular- shaped octagonal watches are met with among the
productions of the latter part of the sixteenth till quite the close
of the seventeenth century. Many variations in the size and material
of the cases were made by French and afterwards by English artists
to suit their own tastes or the desires of their patrons ; the cover was
often of crystal, lapis lazuli, agate, or other semi-precious stone.
The crystal case specimen (Fig. 182) is an early one, apparently of
French origin. Another, from the Soltykoff collection, is shown in
Fig. 183. The covers are of silver, and by means of a second dial
and two small apertures in the dial plate it indicated the sign of the
158
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
zodiac corresponding to the month, the day of the month, the day
of the week, and planetary motions. It also struck the hour and
provided an alarum. It is unnamed, but probably late sixteenth-
century work. Back and front views of a striking or clock watch
of nearly the same period are given in Fig. 184. There is a cage-
like covering over the dial, and the back is similarly perforated.
Very nice engraving is to be seen on the head of the hammer as
well as on the balance cock and other fittings connected with the
plate of the movement, which is signed "J. Boudon, a S. Flour."
Fig. 185 is probably French early seventeenth-century work.
Fig. 185.
Fig. 186. —Watch by Jeremie
East, about 1600.
It has covers of crystal and side panels of brown topaz. The
movement is signed "J. Dubie a Paris."
Fig. 186 represents a watch in a case of crystal, which is in the
possession of Messrs. Lambert, who allowed' me to examine it. On
the plate of the movement is inscribed "Jeremie East, fecit," and it
is, I should say, a very early example of English work, dating from
not later than 1600.
In Fig. 187 is shown a superb watch of large size in an octagonal
case of crystal, with a crystal cover and gilt brass mountings. The
movement is oval, and bears the signature of " P. Cuper," who was
a well-known maker of Blois. The dial plate is beautifully engraved,
Portable Timekeepers.
159
Fig. 1S7.
Fig. 188.
i6o
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
and near the joint is the date 1634. It indicates the phases of the
moon and her age, the days of the week, and days of the month.
An octagonal crystal case watch by Henry Grendon, " of ye
Exchange," which dates from about 1660, is shown in Fig. 188.
It was formerly an attractive
item in the Dunn Gardner col-
lection and now belongs to Mr.
F. G. Hilton Price, On the gilt
dial plate are engravings of
tulips ; the hour ring is of silver.
There is an outer case of grey
fish skin studded with silver pins,
rosettes, hinges and clasps, which
is shown open in Fig. i8g.
Some time ago I saw a small
octangular watch movement in-
scribed " Nicasius, London,"
dating from about 1605.
In the British Museum is a
choice octangular watch, dated
1620, by the celebrated Edward
East. The body, as well as the
cover of the case, is of crystal,
faceted, and the exterior alto-
gether closely resembles Fig. 1 86.
Another, somewhat similar, but
dated 1 609, is inscribed, "Michael
Nouwen, London." A watch of
this shape, said to have be-
longed to Abbot Whiting, is
shown in Fig. 190, which is
copied from Warner's " History
of Glaston Abbey." On the
inside of the cover will be noticed
the inscription, " Richard Why-
tinge, 1536." Warner seems to
have accepted the inscription, but beyond it there is really no
evidence except a seal attached to the watch by a string ; this is
certainly not conclusive, and I confess I do not believe such a watch
was made so early as 1536.
Fig. 191 is from the collection of M. Paul Garnier. The square
Fig. ic
Portable Tiuickecper^..
i6i
case has a <;rouncl of blueish steel, oxerhiid witli chased f^okl orna-
ment, the combination producing a very striking effect. The edges
are decorated in the same way. The dial is square, enamelled blue
in the centre and white all round, the corners
being adorned with motifs in red enamel. The
movement is signed " Balthazar Martinet,"
who was horologer to Louis XIII. in 1637.
Steel cases with gold filagree work attached
were rather popular at the middle of the
seventeenth century. Among others in the
British Museum is a choice specimen by
Benjamin Hill.
Two views of a clock watch in a remarkably
well pierced circular case are given in Figs.
192, 193. The dial of brass gilt is finely
engraved, and altogether it is a good example
of the style in vogue about 1640. The
" Martinet Au gros Orloge, Rouen."
—w^
Fi<-.. 191.
movement is sii/ned
Fig. 19:
Fig. 193.
Oval Watches. — From the designation ^" Nuremberg eggs,"
which is often applied to watches of a flattened oval form, it may be
supposed that they originated in Nuremberg. They appear to have
been manufactured here as early as 1600. On page 162 are two
specimens from the Schloss collection. That reproduced in Fig. 194
c.w. M
l62
Old Clocks and WatcJies and their Makers.
is a striking watch of a very early date. The movement, furnished
with the primitive stackfreed, is fitted into a case of brass nicely
pierced at the sides as shown. On the joint of the case is the
signature "J. Burgis." Tne outer part of the dial is of brass, the
centre, including the hour ring, of silver, and on the cover over it
is fixed a circular crystal, an addition doubtless made subsequent
to the manufacture of the watch.
Portable Timekeepers.
163
Some of these early oval watclies had covers back and trout — the
moveinent not being hinged to the case but simply pressed into it
and supported by tenons which projected
from the dial. Fig. 195, an example of this
kind, represents a watch the movement of
wliich is signed " R. Delander fecit." It is
in a silver case having brass mouldings at
the edges ; the outsides of the covers are
finely engraved with groups typical of the
beneficial use of fire and water respectively ;
and on the inside of the back cover is a sun
dial with a stud for the reception of a mov-
able gnomon. The dial is wholly of silver.
In Fig. ig6 is shown an ov-al watch
belonging to Mr. Evan Roberts. The dial
is of silver, and has mounted thereon a
brass hour ring. At each hour, near the
exterior edge of the ring, is a slight knob
to allow of the time being ascertained by
feeling the hand and estimating its position
with relation to the knobs. Over the hour
ring is the engraved inscription, " Our time
doth passe a way." The case is of silver.
On the movement plate is engraved, " Thomas Aspinwall, fecit."
The name of Aspinwall is not unknown among
the celebrated early English watchmakers ;
it is recorded that in 1675 Josiah Aspinwall
was admitted as a brother of the Clock-
makers' Company. tlis admission as a
" brother" probably signifies that he was free
of one of the other City Guilds. In 1863
Lord Torphichen exhibited, at the Archaeo-
logical Institute, a clock watch made by
Samuel Aspinwall, of a date presumably
about 1650 or 1660. But I should be inclined to
place this watch as among the productions of a
much earlier date. A few years ago I saw a
watch very similar to the one here depicted, on
which was engraved, "Samuel Aspinall, fecit."
Bearing in mind the vagaries of seventeenth-century orthography,
we may assume that this referred to a member of the same family.
M 2
Fig. ig6.
Fig. 197.
164
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Oval or egg-shaped watches were usually worn on chatelaines.
They were apparently more popular than any other form from 1610
to 1625, and continued in fashion with the fair sex for a long time.
In Hollar's plates of the four seasons, dated 1641, summer is repre-
sented by a lady having an egg-shaped watch on her left side
depending from her girdle. The British Museum contains several
similar specimens, most of which are assigned to the first quarter of
the seventeenth century. One, by Nicholas Waller, is dated 1610.
Another, almost a counterpart of the one illustrated in Fig. 197, is
by John Limpard, and was made about
1610. It is calculated for going sixteen
hours between windings. The case is
of silver, partially gilt and very ele-
gantly chased ; on one side is a figure
representing Hope, and on the other a
corresponding figure of Faith.
An exterior view of an oval watch by
Simon Bartram is given in Fig. 197.
The circular patch on the left is a " hit
or miss" shutter, which covers the
winding hole to prevent the ingress of
dirt. This shutter is found on many
early seventeenth-century watches. It
had to be moved round when the watch
was wound, and on completion of the
operation was replaced. The dial is
very similar to that shown in Fig. 196.
A drawing of the movement, which is
of particular interest, will be given later
on.
In the Hilton Price collection is a
watch of the same kind by the same maker, another oval one by
Edward East, one by Samuel Linaker, and that shown in Fig. 198,
which is by Denis Bordier, Paris. It has a brass gilt dial prettily
engraved and a fluted silver case.
The small oval watch in a case of crystal which belongs to
Mr. Max Rosenheim and is shown in Fig. 199 bears the signature,
"Jean Nuer, A Saintes."
Fig. 200 represents an oval watch, apparently English, in a silver
case and with a silver dial. There are no screws used in the move-
ment, which is signed " William Yate." Mr. Edward Parr has a
Fig. ic
Portable Timekeepers.
165
somewliat similar watch in a brass case, the movement of which is
signed " Wm. Nash, London."
There is a very small oval watch in the British Museum. It
measures but half an inch across by three-quarters of an inch
long, and has plain silver capsule-shaped outer cases. The South
Kensington Museum contains a still smaller one.
Early in the seventeenth century plain circular watch cases came
into favour, but not to the entire exclusion of more fanciful shapes.
On page 166 are examples of some diminutive round watches of
the period. Fig. 201, in a case of silver gilt, dates from about
Fig. 199.
Fig. 200.
1630, and the movement is signed "Jacob Wibrandt, Leuwarden."
A plainer specimen of a slightly later date bearing the name
" Chaunes le jeune " is shown in Fig. 202.
Front and back views of a watch bearing tlie signature, " Arnolts,
Hamburg," are given in Figs. 203, 204. The case of silver is
handsomely chased in repousse, with a remarkably well executed
portrait on the back. It is a production of about 1635.
Figs. 205 and 206 represent a watch by Jeremie Gregory, a well-
known English maker. The outside of the case is covered with
champ leve engraving, a style of decoration rather uncommon and
very effective if well done, as it is in this instance.
1 66 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Fig. 20I.
Fig. 202.
Fig. 203.
Fig. 204.
Fig. 205.
Fig. 206.
Portable Timekeepers. 167
Holbein. — Holbein tlie painter seems to have taken a remarkable
interest in horology. In his famous picture of "The Family of
Sir Thomas More," painted 1526-30, is to be seen hanging on the
wall a clock much resembling the one of Anne Boleyn which is
illustrated on page 50. The bracket on which Anne Boleyn's clock
now stands was probably added by Horace Walpole.
Holbein was on very intimate terms with Nicholas Cratzer (or
Kratzer), horologer to Henry VHI., and painted a superb portrait
of him, which is dated 1528, and is at the Louvre, Paris. Cratzer
is there represented at work on a sundial, with other instruments of
the kind near him. Holbein's last dated drawing (1543), now at the
British Museum, is a design for a combination of clock and hour glass,
intended for presentation to Henry VHI. by Sir Anthony Denny.
But Holbein's interest in the craft w^as quite exceptional in England
at that period, and it must be confessed that up to nearly the end of
the sixteenth century English horologists had but a very small share
in the production of portable timekeepers.
Salt Cellar Clocks. — In the early part of the seventeenth
century it was apparently the custom to have clocks combined
with salt cellars on the table at state banquets, to judge by the
following curious items from an inventory of the plate in the lower
and upper jewel rooms of the Tower, 1649 : " A salt of state with a
clocke in it, valued att £12 o o; a clccke salt with a christall case,
supported with 4 pillars, silver-gilt, valued at ^"4 100; an aggatt
salt and cover garnisht with gold, enamelled, supported by 3 men,
and a shipp on the top of the cover, p. oz. lo-j oz., valued att
^33 o o ; two clocke salts standing upon 4 christall balls and 4
christall pillars, each with aggatt salts on the topp, and gold covers,
p. oz. 3 lb. 2^ oz., valued att ^368 per oz. = ^77 o o ; a christall
watch salt garnisht with gold, and supported with 3 faces with
several fruiteages hanging about them, p. oz. 30 oz., valued att
£30 o o."
( i68 )
CHAPTER IV.
POCKET WATCHES, ETC.
Pockets were used for the reception of timekeepers in Shakespeare's
time, for Jaques, in " As You Like It," remarks, " And then he drew
a dial from his poke." Portable sundials, sometimes with a compass
attached, were then made, and the reference was probably to one
of these.
Watches were not usually carried in the pocket for more than a
century after the mainspring was invented. The larger ones would
be kept on a table or cabinet, and the smaller kinds, when worn on
the person, were originally held by a chain around the neck,- or
attached to the dress in other ways, unless incorporated with
bracelets and such-like ornaments, as many of Queen Elizabeth's
seem to have been.
The grotesque and uneven cases applied to most of the early
Avatches clearly rendered them unsuitable for the pocket. Decker
in 1609 (Gull's Hornbook), apostrophizing the fashionable young
bloods idling in the cathedral, says, " Here you may have fit occasion
to discover your watch by taking it forth and setting it to the time
of St. Paul's." This suggests a pocket, but long after this date oval
and round watches were made with a pointed projection dependmg
from the bottom of the case, and these were clearly never intended
for the pocket, nor fit for it. The fob, from the German fuppe, "a
small pocket," was very possibly introduced by the Puritans, whose
disUke of display may have induced them to conceal their time-
keepers from the public gaze. This conjecture is strengthened by
the fact that a short " fob " chain attached to a watch of Oliver
Cromwell's, in the British Museum, is, in point of date, the first
appendance of the kind to be found. The watch is a small oval one,
in a silver case, and was made about 1625, by John Midnall, of
Fleet Street, who was one of the first members of the court of the
Clockmakers' Company, and warden in 1638. On one side of a
silver plate at the seal end of the chain are the Cromwell arms, and
on the other the crest of the Protector with the letters O.C. as shown
Pocket Watches, etc.
169
in the appended engraving, Fig. 207. The Cromwell crest was a
demi-hon holding a ring in its paw, but the Protector substituted
for the ring the handle of a tilting spear as here represented.
This watch and chain formed part of the Fellows collection. By
the will of Dame Harriet Fellows (relict of the late Sir Charles
Fellows), late of West Cowes, Isle of Wight, who died in 1874, the
testatrix bequeathed to the
trustees of the British Museum
her collection of watches, to be
placed and held with Milton's
watch, bequeathed to them by
her late husband.
Fig. 208 is an illustration from
ih.e Illustrated London News, Feb.
1850, of a clock watch which is
said to have belonged to Oliver
Cromwell. It is, I believe, the
property of Mr. J. H. Fawkes,
of Farnley Hall, and bears the
name of Jaques Cartier, The
outer case of leather is perforated
and studded with silver.
In the Gentleman s Magazine
for December, 1808, is shown a
small oval watch, similar to the
one by East, Fig. 400, which, it
is stated, Cromwell at the siege
of Clonmel took out of his fob and
presented to Colonel Bagwell.
In the South Kensington
Museum is a circular clock
watch by Johannes Bayes, which
probably belonged to Cromwell's
secretary. The outer case of
tortoiseshell bears the inscription
A.D. 1628."
A very handsome watch by Henry Harpur is shown in Fig. 209.
It has a silver dial with day of the month ring and beautifully
pierced centre ; the inner case is of silver, having on the back the
arms of Cromwell, to whose daughter Bridget the ownership of the
watch is assigned ; the outer case of fish skin is pique with silver pins.
Fig. 207. — Oliver CromweH's watch
and fob chain.
" Johne Pyme, hes watch,
170
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Watch Glasses. — Watch glasses seem to have been introduced
about 1 610. At first they were flat, rather thick, and fitted into spHt
bezels, as the containing rings are called, the opening in the bezel
being at the middle of the joint, so that the corresponding knuckles
of the case would keep the slit tightly closed on to the glass. Glasses
of this kind are found on oval watches, and also on circular ones with
dials much smaller than the cases, which were a fashion at the begin-
ning of the seventeenth century. Then followed the high, rounded
glasses, which were cut from spheres. Afterwards came the bull's-
eyes, with a circular flat centre ; these, wdiich were of German origin,
Fig. 208. — Clock watch of
Oliver Cromwell.
Fig. 209.
gave place to the flatter "lunettes" from France, such as to-day
divide popular favour with the thick "crystal" glasses.
Glasses were apparently used for table clocks some years before
they were applied to watches. German and French table clocks,
dating from the latter part of the sixteenth century, are occasionally
to be met with having glasses over the dials, and some octagonal
ones with glass panels in the sides. But the innovation did not at
once prevail, as table clocks, either without any covering over the
dial, or with metal covers, were made long after the first examples
with glasses, and watches with metal covers continued in fashion till
the middle of the seventeenth century.
Pocket Watches, etc._ 171
In the British Museum is an oval watch by Guy Mellin, Black-
friars, the dial of which is covered with a glass in a split bezel ; also
a circular watch by John Duke, Fleet Street, with a dial one-half the
size of the case, and a glass of a corresponding size fitted into a split
bezel. Mellin's watch is considered by the authorities to have been
made about 1600, but I should be inclined to put the date of its
production a few years later. Several other watches, whose manu-
facture is ascribed to the beginning of the seventeenth century, may
be noticed with glasses ; but these adjuncts in some instances have
been subsequent applications. The split bezel is perhaps a tolerable
criterion of originality, but it does not absolutely follow that such a
bezel was originally fitted with a glass, for the frames of early watches
and clocks were occasionally furnished with crystal.
Another method of fixing the glass prior to the introduction of the
present practice of springing or snapping it into the bezel consisted
of forming three or four thin metal ears on the bezel and bending
them over the glass when it had been placed into a suitable rebate.
I saw this in a watch by Benjamin Hill. It was, however, but a
survival of the mode in which crystal was held in octagonal and
other fancy cases, and must be regarded as an inferior arrangement
which does not seem to have been at all general, whereas the split
bezel was used preferentially by some makers long after the custom
of snapping the glass in was introduced. The watch shown in
Fig. 445, and made about 1700 by the celebrated Langley Bradley,
has a split bezel.
Watch Cases. — The convenience of the "fob" to those who
carried watches for use rather than for ornament was soon apparent,
and its adoption speedily became general with men, though ladies
continued to wear their watches suspended from chatelaines till the
latter part of the eighteenth century. Some of the chatelaines
were exceedingly handsome, as may be judged by an example from
the Schloss collection which is shown in Fig. 210. The plaques are
painted in enamel in the style of Huaud ; the mounting and painting
are French. In 1749 Benjamin Cartwright patented a secret spring
to secure a watch hanging by a lady's side.
Like many other fancies, the one of wearing two watches is but a
revival, pace the Universal Magazine for 1777, where the description of
a " modern fop " includes —
•' A lofty cane, a sword with silver hilt,
A ring, two watches and a snuff-box gilt."'
It will be observed from the preceding examples that a great
172
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
number of dissimilar materials were used to enclose portable time-
keepers : wood of various kinds, precious and semi-precious stones,
amber, metal and leather were all
utilized for this purpose. With few
exceptions the earliest watches had
but a single case. Metal was the
predominating material, the
plainest cases being usually of
brass, or of polished steel ; silver
also was favoured both for smooth
and engraved cases ; for the more
costly coverings gold was of course
selected, either by itself or in com-
bination with precious stones, and
occasionally the two precious
metals would be used together
with pleasing effect.
Sometimes the watch movement,
instead of being fastened to the
case, was simply placed in, four
tenons which projected from the
edge of the dial fitting into corre-
sponding mortices in the middle
band of the case. The case then
had two hinged covers, one over
the dial and one over the back, the
movement being rendered secure
by the closing of the front cover ;
the back cover had to be opened
to wind the watch. The oval
watch by R. Delander, which is
illustrated on page 162 ; the one by
David Bouquet in the Mainwaring
collection, and another by David
Ramsay in the South Kensington
Museum, are examples of this
method. But more often the
movement was joined to the case
by means of a hinge near the
pendant and a spring bolt at the opposite point of the dial, four
projecting tenons on the dial resting in notches cut from the middle
Fig. 210.
Pocket \]'atches, etc.
173
of the case. This mode of construction is clearly shown in the
engraving of the oval watch by Thomas Aspinwall on page 163. Till
about 1720 the spring bolt generally projected through the dial ; after
that the nib for unbolting was more often arranged outside the circle
of the dial and below the surface of it.
Enamel. — Decoration in enamel is sometimes to be found on
watch dials and cases produced during the early part of the
seventeenth century. An exceptionally good specimen is shown
in Figs. 211 and 212. The outside of the cover and the back are
>fl^
Fig. 211. — Front, with cover
closed.
Fig. 212. — l>ial and inside of
cover.
embellished with enamel, the ground being of turquoise blue with
white arabesques moulded thereon in relief and studded with fine
garnets of large size. Though "jewelled watches" are referred
to as belonging to Queen Elizabeth and in other records of the
period, it is very rarely that so early a combination of enamel and
gems is now to be met with. The inside of the case and of the
cover are also painted in enamel, and so is the dial. There is no
glass over the dial. The hand is well shaped. The plate of the
watch is inscribed " Pierre Soret."
Front and back views of a watch covered with the same kind of
174
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
enamel but of later date are given in Figs. 213 and 214. The
centre of the dial is blue, and a portrait on an enamelled plaque
occupies the centre of the back. A very thin name plate is engraved
"James Coupe, London," and underneath the name plate appears
the signature "Marc Grangier."
In Fig. 215, by permission of Mr. Charles Shapland, I am enabled
Fig. 213.
Fig. 215.
Fig. 214.
Fig. 216.
to give a representation of a specimen in a different style, dating
from about 1630. On the top plate of the movement is the inscrip-
tion " Georgius Merkell, Dantzig." The case is of gold, and is
wholly incrusted with enamel both inside and outside ; flowers of
various colours and kinds, as well as winged insects, are charmingly
represented.
Pocket Watches, etc.
175
Of other kinds of enamelling to be met with but rarely on early
seventeenth-century watches may be mentioned champ levc. This
somewhat resembles the well-known cl isonne, but, instead of the
various sections being divided by the insertion of metal strips, the
partitions are solid with the base, and the intervening spaces cut out
to receive the enamel. A watch, signed " Du Hamel a Paris,"
dating from about 1635, in a gold case very effectively decorated in
this way with cream-coloured enamel, is shown in Fig. 216.
Another example is given in Fig. 217, which is the back of a watch
with a peculiar notoriety, referred to in Chap. III.: the dial bears
the inscription " Robertus Bruce Rex Scottorum," as shown in
Fig. 217A, wliile tlie watch is a production of about 1645, the
Fig. 21'
Fig. 2I7A.
movement of it being signed " Johann Kreitt Mayr." The diminu-
tive watch on page 154 is also decorated with champ leve enamel.
Occasionally translucent enamel was employed, and effects of
light and shade obtained by varying the depth of a cavity which was
cut to the required design in a metal base.
Watches with enamel painting before about 1640 are exceedingly
rare, and there is a marked difference in the character of such
decorative work executed at the beginning, compared with that
done during the later years of the seventeenth century. As examples
of the earlier style, which presented a comparatively lustreless
surface and subdued tints, may be taken the watches shown on
pages 176-g. During the first quarter of the century the Holy
Family appears to have afforded the theme for decoration in nearly
every instance. Afterwards, though sacred subjects were not ignored,
mythological incidents were sometimes selected by artists for repro-
176 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Figs. 218—220. — Watch by Salomon Plairas, Blois, with enamel painting,
about 1625.
I, outside of cover; 2, back of case; 3, inside of cover and dial.
Pocket ]V(itchcs, etc.
177
Fig. 221.
Fig. 222.
C.W.
Fig. 223.
Fig. 224.
Front and back views of watch. The movement signed
" Barthelmy Mace a Blois."
Pocket Watches, etc. 179
duction, and occasionally original conceptions and portraits of
contemporary personages were applied to watches intended most
probably for presentation.
On page 176 are three views of an early and very fine sixteenth
century enamelled watch from the Schloss collection. The move-
ment is signed " Salomon Plairas, horlogeur, A Blois."
Fig. 221, from the collection at the South Kensington Museum,
shows the front of a watch dating from about 1630, on which is a
painting of the Holy Family, after Rubens.
Fig. 222 represents the back of a watch of the same period at the
British Museum, for which the artist has apparently taken the
romance of Theseus and Hippolyta as the subject of his painting.
The movement is signed " B. Foucher, Blois."
Front and back views of a watch, the movement of which is signed
" Barthelmy Mace a Blois," are given on page 178. Nearly all
artists who painted watch cases up to the end of the eighteenth
century seem to have included the " Roman Piety " in their selec-
tions ; the representation on the back of this watch could, I think,
hardly be excelled.
Fig. 225, from the British Museum, shows the back of a watch
by Jean Hebrat, of Brussels, of a slightly later date than Fig. 224 ;
the painting is bordered with turquoises.
Back and front views of a very beautiful watch, the enamel
painting of which is probably English as well as the movement, are
given in Figs. 226-227.. On the back of the case, within a charming
floral border, is a well-painted portrait, said to be that of Henrietta
Maria, daughter of Henry IV. of France and wife of Charles I. of
England. The dial is finely painted to a floral design and covered
by a glass kept into a recess in a primitive way by six pins bent
over from the bezel. The hand is of brass, pierced and chased.
On the plate of the movement is engraved " Simon Hackett,
Londini." He was elected a member of the Clockmakers' Company
on its formation in 1632, and served as master in 1646.
An improved method of painting in opaque enamel, which
appears to liave been discovered about 1635, is generally credited to
Jean Petitot, who was born in Geneva in 1607, and attained much
success as a miniature painter in France and in England. The new
process consisted of applying to thin gold plates thick colours of
different tints which would, after being subjected to fire, retain their
brilliance and lustre. Petitot exercised his art on snuff boxes, but
I have never met with enaiutl decoration on a watch which bore his
N 2
i8o
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
signature. The invention of this particular kind of enamel painting
is also claimed for Jean Toutin, a
Fig. 225.
goldsmith of Chateau Surr,
who was previously distin-
' guished for painting in
enamels, and who certainly
seems to have been one of
the first to apply it to
watches. Other French
and Swiss artists quickly
devoted themselves to the
new kind of enamel paint-
ing. Among those who
excelled in it may be
mentioned Henry Toutin,
brother of Jean, a gold-
smith and enameller at
Blois; Dubie, a court gold-
smith who worked at the
Louvre ; Paul Viet, of
Blois ; Morli^re, a native
of Orleans, who worked at
Blois ; Robert Vauquer, of
Blois, a pupil of Morliere,
Fig. 226.
Fig 227.
Pocket Watches, etc.
I8l
Fig. 228. — Front of case
Fig. 230. —Movement and inside Fig. 2ji.— Dial and inside ol
ot case. cover.
Watch about 1640. Movement signed " Barbaret a Paris,'
i82 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
of pre-eminent ability, whose enamel painting has never been
excelled either for colour or design, though specimens of his art
are rarely to be met with on watch cases ; Pierre Chartiere, of Blois,
who was noted for his painting of flowers ; and the brothers Jean
Pierre and Ami Huaud (or Huaut, also spelt Hualt), of whom
" Huaud le puisne," as he usually signed himself, was particularly
celebrated for figure-painting. Several examples are to be found in
the British, South Kensington and Guildhall Museums.
Four view^s of a splendid watch in the Schloss collection, dating
from about 1640, appear in Figs. 228, 229, 230, and 231. The
movement is signed " Jacque Barbaret a Paris."
Front and back of a smaller watch from the same collection,
signed " Romieu, Rouen, Fecit," are given in Figs. 232 and 233.
The representation of the toilet of Venus on the back of a watch
by Robert Lochard, which is shown in Fig. 234, is an extremely
beautiful example.
The admirable painting of figures and a landscape shown in
Fig. 235 is signed by " Huaud le puisne," and is on the back of a
wa<-ch by Steven Tracy, Rotterdam, which is at the British Museum.
Among other examples there may be cited a representation of some
nymphs bathing, excellently executed in enamel by Jean Toutin ;
an enamelled case, very finely painted by Henry Toutin, illustrating
the story of Tancred and Clorinda in " Orlando Furioso " ; another
by the same artist which treats of the " Rape of the Sabines " ; a watch
by David Bouquet, a well-known London maker, the case being
ornamented with flowers, in relief, and enriched with diamonds ; a
very finely enamelled watch case, illustrating the early life of Christ;
a very thick rounded watch by Tompion, with case splendidly
painted in enamel by Camille Andre.
Fig. 236 shows the case of a watch by Jean de Choudens, dating
from about 1680, which is painted in a really charming manner and
bears the inscription " Les deux freres Huaut pintre de son A. E.
Berlin." It is at the South Kensington Museum.
Of slightly later date is a watch by " F'^"'- De Miere Amsterdam,"
with a painting on the back of the Roman Piety, as shown in
Fig. 237. This is signed " Huaud le puisne fecit," and is also to be
seen at South Kensington. A similar painting covering a watch
by " Pieter Paulus Amsterdam," which is in the Schloss collection,
bears the signature " P. Huaud, P. Genius, F. Geneva."
There were two examples in the Dunn Gardner collection which
was dispersed by auction in 1902 : a choice piece of figure painting
Fig. 233.
Fig. 236.
Fig. 235.
Fig. 237.
Fig. 238.
Fig. 239.
Fig. 240.
Fig. 242.
Fig. 243.
Pocket W niches, etc. 185
covering a watch by Lucas, Amsterdam, the enamelled case being
signed " Huaud I'aisne pinxit a Geneue," and a watch by Julien
Le Roy, with enamelled case, bearing the signature of G. Bouvier.
All on page 184 are signed specimens of the Huauds' work. The
lirst consists of front and back views of a watch by " Goullons a
Marseille," dating from about 1670, which is signed " Huaud le
puisne." On the front are Mars and Venus with Cupid, and on the
back " The Hours."
The next two bear the same signature, and are a little later. A
pair of lovers is painted on each ; the first Apollo and Diana, the
second possibly Mars and Venus. The former covers a watch by
" Ofard a Gex," and the hitter one by "Johannes Van Ceulin,
Hague."
" Venus and Adonis " is signed " Le deux frere Huaut, p. d. \ . A.
Fct, a Berlin," and is on the back of a watch by " \'anenho\e,
Amsterdam."
The group " Susanna and the Elders," most beautifully painted,
is signed " Les deux freres Huaud les jeunes," and is on a watch
named " Jan Bern^ VrythofF, Hague."
Pigments of different composition yielding colours not so superla-
tively rich and warm as characterizes the work of what I will
\enture to call the Huaud school seem to have been introduced
towards the middle of the eighteenth century. Prevost (or Prevaux),
who is described as " Peintre du cabinet de S. M." (Louis XV,),
may be taken as one of the best exponents of the new method. He
painted a portrait of Madame Pompadour, by command of the King,
for which he was paid 1,000 livres. A really beautiful piece of his
enamel painting, signed " I. Prevaux, pin. 1749," on the back of a
watch by Pascal Hubert le Jeune, Rouen, from the Schloss collection,
is shown at the top left hand corner of page 186, with others decorated
in a somewhat similar style. The watch on the same level, with a
pair of lovers and a landscape on the back, is by Julien Le Roy.
Vulcan, \'enus and Cupid are on a repeating watch by the same
maker. The syhan scene with a flute player and a lady holding
the music adorns a watch signed " Raphard, London," and the
remaining two are watches by Julien Le Roy. Naomi and Ruth are
represented in the bottom left hand corner, and the tableau in the
last example is founded, I believe, on a tragic incident in the romance
of Orestes and Hermione.
Painted groups, bordered with translucent enamel over a wavy oren-
graved metal ground, were favoured during the last half of the eighteenth
Pocket Watches, etc.
187
century, and in many instances the surface of the painting was
covered with a transparent flux, which gave it a glassy appearance.
During the first half of the nineteenth century portraits and views
in small panels attached to the backs of watch cases were popular
and of very uneven merit. Most of them were, I think, of Swiss
origin.
In the Vienna Treasury is a watch case finely enamelled inside
and out by the brothers Huaud.
Other representative examples of French, Swiss and English
enamel are appended.
Vn
Fig. 251.
Fig. 250 shows the back of a watch by Henry Harper, London, of
a style corresponding to 1670. The painting is probably Dutch, and
of a later date.
The beautiful painting set in an engraved gold border shown in
Fig. 251 encloses a watch signed " Honore I^ieutand, Marseille."
Two views of a half-quarter repeater by Rd. Gregg, London, from
the Hilton Price collection, are given in Figs. 252-253. The centre
of the outer case is enamelled with figures of cupids in a landscape,
and small vignettes are painted around the edge ; the dial bears the
arms of Herbert, second Viscount Windsor ; this title became extinct
in 1758. The painting is signed with the initials " A.C."
An excellent specimen of floral decoration in enamel bordered by
1 88 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
engraving appears in Fig. 254, which represents the gold back of a
watch signed " Jn. L^- Argand, Paris," and dating from about 1770.
Fig. 252.
I'l'- 253.
Fig. 254.
Fig. 255.
A back view of a contemporary watch by Romilly, Paris, with pretty
flower painting on a brown enamelled ground, is given in Fig. 255.
Pocket Watches, etc.
i8g
A choicer piece of flower painting on enamel than is shown in
Fig. 256 it has never been my good fortune to see. This watch
belongs to the Hon. Gerald Ponsonby, by whose permission it is
illustrated. It is a souvdine repeater by Julien Le Roy ; the hands,
bow, push piece at pendant, thumb piece and sourdine toucher are all
set with diamonds.
Fig. 257. Hack <>t watch by
G. Achard et Fils, Geneva.
Enamel painting studded
with diamonds.
Fig. 258. — Back of French
watch. Enamel painting stud-
ded with diamonds; surmount-
ed by a bust of Louis XVI.
As an example of English enamelling dating from about the
middle of the eighteenth century, is shown, in Fig. 259, the exterior
of a watch by Arl, Dobson, London, which is in the British Museum.
I wish I could say the painting is better than contemporary specimens
of foreign artists.
Notwithstanding the taste for Chinese art which was so apparent
in France during the eighteenth century, it is very seldom a watch
I go
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
is met with having a back of porcelain enamel with a Chinese
subject moulded thereon. An example covering a watch by Julien
Le Roy may, therefore, be of especial interest, though it makes but
a poor picture. The figures are in bright colours, and the ground a
dark brown.
On page igi are some fine examples of varying periods. " The
Nativity " is a beautiful piece of painting in the incomparable
Huaud style on the back of a watch by Gribelin, Paris, dating
from about 1680. On the same horizontal line is a watch the
movement of which is signed " Abraham Le Schegs, Amsterdam."
Fig. 259.
Fig. 260.
The painting is doubtless also by one of the Huauds. The first of
the middle pair is the back of a watch by the younger Caron. Any
appearance of vulgarity in the subject of the painting is quite atoned
for by the adjoining view of the inside of the case, where are repre-
sented the young mother and her babe. The representation of the
mother of Achilles dipping him in the Styx is on the back of a watch
by Julien Le Roy. Diana and her attendant nymph, which adorns
the last watch on the page, dates from about 1780.
Fig. 267 shows a watch by J. Leroux, Charing Cross, which is
said to have belonged to Viscount Windsor, whose title became
extinct in 1758. The case is enamelled blue and white on a gold
ground.
Fig. 261.
Fig. 262.
ig2
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
In Fig, 268 is shown a repeating watch by Lepine ; on the gold
case in an oval medallion are finely carved figures of gold and silver
Fig. 267.
Fig. 26S.
Fig. 269. Fig. 270.
on a ground of green enamel, outside of which is a wreath carved in
silver. This decoration is exceedingly effective. The push piece,
thumb piece and bow are studded with diamonds.
Pocket Watches, etc.
193
Fig. 269 is a late eighteentli century French painting representing
Cyinon and Iphigenia.
Fig. 271. — Watch by B. Baillon a I'aris, Fig. 272. — Watch bv Gregson, Horloger
about 1765. clu Roy, Paris, about 17S5.
r^
Fig. 273. — Watch by Alexander
Patry a Geneva, about 1790,
miniature bordered with pearls
and coloured stones.
Fig. 274. — W^atch by Lepaute,
Paris, about 1790, enamelled
portrait bordered with diamonds.
In Fig. 270 is shown the back of what is called a " Mongolfier "
watch, from the Hilton Price collection, on which is painted a
c.w. o
194
Old Clocks and WatcJics and their Makers.
representation of a balloon undergoing inflation, intended, I suppose,
to commemorate the success of Montgolfier's aerostatic machine in
1782. The movement is signed " Vauchez, Paris."
Fig. 275 shows the back of a thin watch by " Gregson, Paris,
horloger du Roy." The case is enamelled on gold, the outer part
rayed and covered with royal blue translucent enamel ; on a
medallion of opaque enamel in the centre is a well-painted group
with Cupid and a dog, denoting love and faith. It is characteristic
of the Louis XVI. period, when this style of enamelling was in
Fig. 275. — Enamelled watch by Gregson. Fig. 276. — English enamelled watch.
fashion. Fig. 276 shows an English watch, with the London hall
mark corresponding to 1787. The margin is of translucent royal
blue as in the preceding example.
Two French watches of slightly later date, finely painted in
enamel, are shown in Figs. 277 and 278.
Battersea enamel dates from about 1750, when Sir Theodore
Janssen, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1754, established a
manufactory at York House, Battersea. Horace Walpole described
his collection as " stamped with copper plates." Transfer printing
may have been employed for flat surfaces, but certainly not for
watch cases, the painting on some of which was by artists of note.
Pocket ] Witches, etc.
195
A very good example is shown in Fig. 281. Back and front views
of a very choice little watch by Hughes, London,, of a slightly later
period, are given in Figs. 282 and 283,
Watch dials of enamel, with pictures painted in bright colours
inside of the hour ring, and occasionally outside of it, proved very
attractive between 1760 and 1800. They were inexpensive, and as
a rule of but little artistic merit, the most favoured designs being
those in which shipping and seaports were introduced. Many
Fig. 277.
Fig. 278.
thousands of these were produced for the Dutch market by English
watchmakers.
The miniature of Marat, " rciiiii du peuplc,'" on the back of a watch
from the Schloss collection, which is shown in Fig. 284, is an
admirable piece of work.
A fine miniature of Napoleon Buonaparte on the back of a musical
half-quarter repeater of French make, wdiich is shown in Fig. 285,
is in the Hilton Price collection. This watch is said to have been
given by Napoleon to Murat on the fete day after the battle of
Marengo, 1800. No cost seems to have been spared either with the
mechanism or the embellishment. A tune is played at the com-
pletion of each hour ; the miniature and dial are bordered with
pearls; the bow also is studded with them.
o 2
ig6 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Fig. 282.
Fig. 283.
Pocket Watcher, etc.
197
A pretty little watch, which in many respects is a credit to English
mechanical and artistic work of the first quarter of the nineteenth
century, is shown in Fig. 286. It bears the hall mark for 1813, and
is engraved "Markwick Markham, Borrell, London," a form of
signature induced doubtless by the regulations applied to watches
imported into Turkey, for the dial is marked with Turkish numerals.
It may be assumed that Borrell was the manufacturer. The move-
ment is of admirable finish, has a verge escapement and fancy
pillars, but the particular attraction is the beautiful gold cases.
Fig. 284. — Marat.
Fig. 2S5. — Napoleon.
of which there are three. The outer one, instead of having a flat
surface Avhere the halves meet, is scalloped all round, but still
forming a well-fitting junction by no means easy to attain. This
case is enamelled, with a glass in the back, through which a very
choice bit of floral enamel painting is to be seen. The backs of the
two cases are so well fitted together that it re(|uii'es minute scrutiny
to detect that the enamelled centre is not part of the outer case.
The innermost case is a plain one, but exceedingly well made.
During the eighteenth century the cock or bridge covering the
balance of the watch, and concealed until the mo^•ement was turned
igS
Old Clocks and Watches and ilicir Makers.
out of the case, was occasionally decorated with painting in enamel.
Fig. 287, given as an illustration, is a watch signed "Flamant a
Paris." It has a gilt metal case, and dates from about 1710 ; over
Fig. 2S6.
the balance is a gold enamelled plaque with a finely-painted repre-
sentation of Cleopatra.
Pair Cases. — To protect the surface of the decoration watches
with exterior ornament of enamel were generally provided with an
additional cover, and from
about 1640 the practice of
adding a loose outer case to
watches, forming what are
called " pair cases," continued
to the early part of the nine-
teenth century.
Loose cases of gold and
silver, with designs chased in
repousse, were at this period
an important art in connection
with watch-making. Chasing
as distinguished from engraving
and carving is the formation
of ornament in relief by punch-
ing or pressing, rather than
by cutting away the material. It is a very ancient art, and chased
ornament is to be found on some of the earliest of watch cases.
Much of the w^ork on old clocks, which at first sight appears to
be engraving, proves on examination to be chasing. All the
Fig. 2S7.
Pocket Watclics, etc.
199
small numerals on Habrecht's clock at tlie British Museum are
stamped.
The silver chased work applied to the edges of English oval cases
at the beginning of the seventeenth century is said to have been
imported in strips from France.
An excellent piece of fiat chasing, incUuHng the liead of Charles II.,
with the Royal Crown and supporters, on tlie case of a watch by
Daniel Le Count, dating from about 1680, is shown in Fig. 28S. The
case is a single one, and on the right is a little catch, by pressing
which a disc on the left springs on one side, exposes a round liole in
Fig. 288. — Flat chasing on single case
watch by Daniel Le Count about 1680.
Fig. 289.— rial chabing on outer
case of watch by William
Scafe.
the case, and thus allows access to the winding square. The dial of
this watch is shown on page 216 and the movement on page 526.
The same style of decoration of a later date on the outer case of
a watch, by William Scafe, may be seen in I'^ig. 289.
In repousse chasing the material is punched or pressed up trom
the back, whereby the design is obtained in higher rehef than is the
case with the ordinary method of punching from the face. Some
very choice specimens of repousse work, marked " H. Manley " in
very small characters, are in the British Museum. An outer case
at the South Kensington Museum is signed " H. Manly fee," and a
watch by EUicott, bearing the hall mark for 1767, in a fine repousse case,
which appears to be signed " Manby," is in the Guildhall Museum.
200
Old Clocks and ]]'aicJics and their Makers.
Among the signatures on other good examples may be mentioned
Parbury, Cochin, and Moser, but as a rule decorative work of this
kind bears no indication of the producer.
Occasionally cases decorated in repousse a jour are to be met with,
some of the best of them being the work of Dutch artists, but this
form of ornament is hardly suitable for watch cases, as it affords
no protection against the ingress of dirt, unless a separate lining is
Fig. 290. — I'air case I'epeating
watch by Paul Dupin, about
1700, showing repousse outer
cover. TJie chasing is of excep-
tional fineness.
Fig. 291. — Repeating watch
by Paul Dupin, showing
pierced work of inner case.
employed. For striking watches, apertures of course serve a useful
purpose.
Sometimes, and particularly with a Jour cases, the ornament is in
high relief, and to obtain the best possible effect the metal con-
stituting the case is not only worked in repousse, but the figures, or
parts of some of the figures standing up farthest from the ground are
soldered on, considerable skill and judgment being displayed. Illus-
trations of repousse chasing are given on pages 201-3, but bright gold
cases embellished in this way do not, it must be confessed, lend
themselves kindly to reproduction by photography. Incidents from
English History were occasionally pourtrayed, but mythological
Vockcl Watches, ck.
201
and lUhlical subjects appear to have been more favoured. Among
the examples may be recognised " King John signing Magna
Charta," "Alexander and Roxana," "The Conversion of Saul,"
Fig. zg;^.— Repousse chasing on gold
Fig. 292. — Silver repousse signed D. Cochin. out-case.
Fig. 294. — Gold repousse chasing.
.>-#^^l^&
Fig. 295. — Gold repousse chasing.
"The Judgment of Paris," "Rebecca at the Well," ".Eneas and
Dido," &c.
Fig. 303 is an exceptionally late and fine specimen, covering a
watch by James Murray, London. It has an oval pendant, and
202 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Fig. 300.
Fig. 301.
Pocket Watches, etc.
203
the date mark corresponding to 1810. On the outside of the inner
case is engraved " Francisco Joseph, 181 1.''
A combination of chasing and engraving was also effectively
employed in the embellishment of gold cases ; some of the choicest
specimens of early eighteenth-century work which survive being the
work of George Michael Moser, R.A.
What is called champ Icve engraving, in which the ground is cut
away, leaving the design in relief, was often adopted for decorating
Fig. 302. — Half-quarter English
repeater with silver out-case.
Fig. 303. — Silver out-case of watch by
J. Murray, hall marlc 1810.
English dials and inner cases from about 1640 to 1680. The
watch by Jeremie Gregory (Fig. 206) is an instance of this work.
Many French watches and clocks of an earlier date were so
treated.
In the Nelthropp collection is a watch by Thomas Windmills
the cases of which are engraved in an exceptional style, corre-
sponding to the Italian niello work, where the effect of light and
shade is produced by rubbing in a preparation of lead and sulphur.
On the outer case is a view representing the yard of an inn with
the sign of a pitcher. In the yard is being played the game of
204
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Pale Maille, popular in the time of Charles II., and from which the
thoroughfare of Pall Mall takes its name. Under the title of Croquet a
pastime bearing some resemblance to it was introduced in recent years.
The watch shown in Fig. 348 has an outer case of steel, dama-
scened, and Fig. 304 represents a steel out-case of a watch by
" Flower, London," decorated with engraving ; such cases are,
however, quite exceptional. The dial of this watch is also of steel,
blued and having gilt figures. A watch by Wdliamy, having a
steel pendant and steel out-case pierced, is shown in Fig. 305. The
Fig. 304. — Watch by " Flower, London,'
with out-case of steel.
Fig. 305.
monogram (C. A. R., Charles Albert Rex) refers to the King of
Sardinia, for whom the watch is said to have been made. He was
father of \'ictor Emmanuel, first King of United Italy.
Occasionally, during the latter part of the seventeenth century
and early in the eighteenth century, outer cases were made of gold
filagree work. An example is shown in Fig. 307.
As a curiosity may be mentioned an outer case of carnelian which
is to be seen in the British Museum. It belongs to a watch made
by Strigner for James II., and by him given to his daughter,
Catherine, Countess of Anglesey and Duchess of Buckingham,
about 1687. In the Hawkins collection was a magnificently clothed
Pocket Watches, etc.
205
repeater by John Ferron, London, dating from about 17 10. The
watch now belongs to Mr. James W. Usher, of Lincohi. It has a
Fig. 306. — Out-case of fish skin piqiii-
with gold pins, about 1690.
Fig. 307. — Gold filagree out-case.
pierced and engraved inner case of gold ; the second case, also of
gold, is chased with flowers and arabesques, inlaid with plaques of
moss agate, and set with numerous brilliants and coloured stones.
A view of this is given in Fig. 308.
There is also a shark-skin outer
case. Fig. 309 shows a watch by
Cabrier which is furnished with
an outer case of gold, carnelian
and mother-of-pearl, and Fig. 310
another, by the same maker, with
an out-case of gold, studded with
large garnets. Mr. George Carr
Glyn, at the Guelph Exhibition,
showed a watch by Jas. Hubert,
which had an agate case studded
with diamonds.
In Fig. 315 appears a water
scene and landscape very finely
carved in ivory and applied under
a glass to the back of a watch
case, which is coated with royal
blue enamel. The carving is enclosed in an oval frame of pearls,
outside of which is a floral design also executed in pearls. Around
the edge of the case at both back and front is a leaf border
206
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
enamelled green, and within it a ring composed of pearls and
garnets alternately. This watch dates from about 1790, and though
the case is Swiss, the movement bears the signature " Jaquet Droz,
London." The mechanism is marked by one or two interesting
features. The mainspring is wound by pushing in and with-
drawing a shaft passing through the pendant, a device known as
"pumping keyless" of which this is an early example. Jaquet
Droz was a well known Swiss mechanician and he may possibly
have at one time resided in London. The cap, balance cock and
other pieces are quite in the English style. The dial is furnished
with a centre seconds hand, which is placed between the hour and
Fig. 309. — Watch by Cabrier, with
outer case of carnehan and mother-
of-pearl set in gold.
Fig. 310. — Watch by Cabrier about
1750. Out-case repousse and studded
with large garnets.
minute indicators. At this period such an adjunct was not at all
common.
Outer cases of horn and of tortoiseshell, either plain or pique
were not uncommon, and the semi-transparency of these materials
was sometimes utilized for a superior kind of decoration. A thin
disc of tortoiseshell having been moulded to the metal foundation,
a landscape or other design was either etched or painted on the
under side and a row of pins inserted around the edge of the
tortoiseshell to secure it to the metal. The picture could be clearly
seen through the tortoiieshell and appeared to be covered with a
kind of glaze. Strong and inexpensive outer cases of metal, covered
with some kind of skin, were also made. Among these coverings
Pocket Watches, etc.
207
shagreen was perhaps the most popular. The true shagreen is a
remarkably tough kind of leather, made chiefly at Astrachan from
Fig. 311. — Out-case of watch by Tompion,
about 1695. Tortoiseshell with silver
inlaid as shown.
Fig. 312. — Tortoiseslu'll (uit-case, decor-
ated with silver in the Chinese style,
about 1730.
Fig. 313. — Leather covered out-case
studded with silver pins.
Fig. 314. — Leather, pique with gold pins,
back of watch by L Mornand, Paris.
the strong skin that covers the crupper of the ass or horse. In its
preparation a peculiar roughness is produced by treading into the
skin hard round seeds, which are shaken out when the skin has been
208
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
dried ; it is then stained green with copper filings and sal-ammoniac,
and the grains or warts are then rubbed down to a level with the
rest of the surface, which thus presents the appearance of white dots
on a green ground.
The skin of the shark and of various other fishes, when properly
prepared, formed an excellent covering, being thin and durable.
This if dyed green was also known as shagreen. It was left with a
slightly matted face, whereas the true shagreen bore a high polish.
The pique surface on outer cases of leather or shagreen obtained
by pins, usually of silver, passing
through the covering and the
inner metal case, had a good
effect and afforded considerable
scope for the skill of the produ-
cer,see Figs. 306-13-14. Besides
an ornamental border there was
usually a central design which
in some instances embodied the
crest or initials of the owner.
These outer cases had of course
to be removed when the watches
were wound, and many of them
left in coaches and other places,
were advertised for in the London
Gazette during the latter part of
the seventeenth and beginning
of the eighteenth centuries.
Where considerable cost had
been lavished on the decoration
of the removable case, covering
the box or watch case proper, a third case would be provided to
protect the second one.
In some instances two second cases would be fitted to the " box,"
or inner case. A leather or tortoiseshell one for everyday use, and
a more elaborate and costly one to be worn on gala days or other
special occasions, when the watch, hanging from a chatelaine, could
be displayed on the person.
As both the box and the loose case of striking watches and
repeaters were pierced to emit the sound, something further was
required to prevent the ingress of dirt or other obstructive matter,
and a thin metal cap to cover the movement was invented almost
Fig. 315. — Watch by Jaquet Droz.
Pocket WiilcJu's. etc.
209
Fig. 316. — Tortoiseshell with silver
overlay.
Fig. 317. — Tortoiseshell with silver
overlaj-.
«^
Fig. 318. — Clock-watch by Abraham
Beckner, Pope's Head Alley, with finely Fig. 319.— Pierced case of clock-
pierced inner-case, about 1670. watch, " Louis Arthaud a Lyon."
C.W.
2l0
Old Clocks and \Vatches and their Makers.
contemporaneously with repeating watches. These caps were
sometimes of silver but more generally of brass ; they performed
their office of keeping dust and dirt from the movement very
efficiently, and have remained a feature of the English full plate
watch to this day.
" Bull's eye," also known as " Ram's eye," cases, introduced
about 1780, were the last variety of pair cased watches; they
derived their titles from the form of the bezel of the outer metal
case, which from the groove to the outer edge followed the curve
of the glass. In many of the later
"Bull's eyes" the usual round
form of pendant was abandoned
in favour of a broad flattened-oval
shape which was much stronger.
A good example on a case decor-
ated with Prince of Wales' plumes,
etc., in gold of various colours, is
given in Fig. 320, which repre-
sents a watch made by James
^IcCabe and bearing the hall
mark of 181 1.
After the introduction of pair
cases it gradually became the
custom to insert in the outer case
a thin pad consisting of a circular
piece of velvet, muslin, or other
material, adorned with fancy
needlework, a favourite form being
a piece of white cambric having
the initials of the owner as well as a fancy border worked in gold
thread, or hair ; in the latter case hair from the head of the fair artist
would presumably be used for the purpose. The following lines were
very neatly executed in needlework on a silk pad in a watch dating
from 1780: —
" Take this token which I give thee,
It is one from friendship's shrine,
Place it where thou'lt think upon me,
When it meets those eyes of thine —
FORGET ME NOT."
" Watch papers " formed an alternative pad. Some of these were
cut to geometrical designs more or less intricate and covering the
whole surface or leaving a central space either circular or oval on
Fig. 320. — Back of watch by Jas.
McCabe, decorated with gold of
various tints.
Pocket Wiitclics, etc.
211
which a miniature or sketch
could be painted. Papers of
this kind had a backing of
bright coloured silk or satin
to give the best effect to the
perforations. Some time ago
I saw in a watch by Isaac
Alexander, Nottingham, a
paper, in the centre of which
was an excellent coloured
portrait of Charles Stuart and
the following rhyme arranged
in a circle round it : —
"O'er this loved form
Let every British breast,
With conscious joy
Its gratitude attest,
And hail ye Prince
In whom ye nation's blest."
In very tiny characters was
the signature "J. June," and
the date 1 745. The paper had
probably been transferred, for
the watch dated from about
1760. Papers having printed
thereon a likeness of the Duke
of Cumberland were issued
in 1746, and in 1821 a superior
pad of white and pink satin
bearing a portrait of Queen
Caroline was produced and
speedily became popular
among admirers of the Royal
Lady. Two examples from
the Ponsonby collection giving
really fair portraits of Queen
Charlotte and Queen Victoria,
the latter when she ascended
the throne, are illustrated in
Figs. 321 and 323.
Papers printed on the frozen
Thames during the prolonged
Fig. 321.
Fig. 322.
Fig 323.
P 2
212 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
frost of 1 8 14 were a cheap novelty which commanded a ready sale.
Most commonly watch papers contained an advertisement of the
watchmaker, and sometimes an equation of time table for comparing
the watch with the sun-dial, as in Fig. 322 ; and occasionally
admonitory or sentimental verses in addition.
'■^Memento Mori''' formed the text of many rhymes; the following,
often met with, may be taken as examples : —
" Onward perpetually moving,
These faithful hands are ever proving
How quick the hours fly by :
This monitory, pulse-like beating,
Is oftentimes, methinks, repeating,
'Swift! swift! the moments fly.'
Reader, be ready, for perhaps before
These hands have made one revolution more
Life's spring is snapped — you die ! "
The next example was printed around the edge of a paper by
John Herron, Cowpen Quay, Blyth : —
"Behold O mortal man,
How swift thy moments fl}-,
Thy Life is but a Span,
Prepare, Prepare to die."
Another from the Ponsonby collection is as follows: —
" Time is, thou hast, employ the portion small.
Time past is gone, thou can'st not it recall.
Time future is not, and may never be.
Time present is the only time for thee."
Another admonitory verse equally popular runs : —
" Time is — the present moment well employ ;
Time was — is past — thou canst not it enjoy ;
Time future — is not and may never be ;
Time present — is the only time for thee."
The next I take from a watch paper by T. Humphreys, Barnard
Castle : —
" Could but our tempers move like this machine.
Not urged by passion nor delayed by spleen.
And true to Nature's regulating power.
By virtuous acts distinguish every hour
Then health and joy would follow as they ought
The laws of motion and the laws of thought.
Sweet health to pass the present moments o'er,
And everlasting joy when time shall be no more"
These lines appear on papers of many other makers. They are
from the pen of " Dr." J. Byrom, and appeared in the Scots Magazine
for October, 1747.
An apposite but more uncommon inscription for timekeepers is
Pocket Watches;, etc.
213
Tciiipus met it HI' oiiinia scd iiictior ipsuin : " Time measures all things,
but I measure it."
Loose outer cases are troublesome, and, after being endured for
two centuries or so, they gave place gradually to the more compact
modern styles, with ornament of a different character.
A series of wavy curves cut into the material and known as
" Engine turning," which is said to have been introduced as a
decoration for watch cases about 1770 by Francis Guerint of Geneva,
was long in fashion. It has a good effect, does not readily show
scratches, and will doubtless again return to favour. The earliest
Fig. 324. — Early engine-turned case.
Fk
i^5-
specimens were cut very deep into the metal, leaving' coarse
" barleys," as the projections are called, and could only be applied
to a considerable thickness of metal. Finer divisions with shallower
cutting, applicable to lighter cases, speedily became the rule, and an
early specimen of coarse cut engine turning is now rarely tO be met
with. The example shown in Fig. 324 is on a repeating watch by
Terroux I'Aine, Geneva, and is very httle later than 1770.
Shortly after the middle of the eighteenth century a very beautiful
art was utilized to enhance the effect of chasing and engraving as
applied to watch cases and dials. A subject having been selected
and drawn upon the gold or other metal ground, pieces of gold of
various colours were formed to represent the parts in relief and
soldered to the ground. A good artist was then able to produce a
214
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
fine effect with the chasing tool and graver. As a specimen is shown
in Fig. 325 a watch signed Gudin a Paris, dating from about 1760.
Here the chased decoration with gold of green, yellow, copper and
silvery tints is very effective, but its whole charm cannot, of course,
be justly conveyed in a black and white engraving. Lepine seems
to have been fond of this coloured gold decoration, for it appears on
the cases of many of his watches. Whatever the number of tints
employed, this style of decoration is generally spoken of as a quatre
conlenrs.
Dials.— With few exceptions the earliest clocks and watches had
Fig. 326. — Watch by Nathaniel Barrow. Fig. 327. — Watch by V. Costontin.
the hours marked with Roman numerals placed radially with the
bottom of each numeral towards the centre of the dial, so that the
v., VI., and VII. appear to be upside down. Another peculiarity is
that the fourth hour was denoted in a very primitive way, thus ;
nil., instead of by I\^, which was then the more orthodox manner.
And it is somewhat remarkable that these features have been
continued to the present day almost unnoticed, as may be proved
by asking anyone to sketch the figuring of his watch without looking
at the timekeeper, for in most instances such a sketch would be
incorrect. But the fact is, we do not read the figures when looking
at a watch or clock, but judge the time from the position of the
hands. Lord Grimthorpe was instrumental in having the hours of
Pocket Watches, etc.
:i5
the turret clock at the dining-hall of Lincoln's Inn marked each by
a short thick radial stroke instead of figures, and it is rarely that
passers-by notice anything unusual, except that the dial seems
particularly clear.
Some of the very earliest portable timekeepers had incised figures
cut in the dial plate, but more often the numerals were engraved on
a separate belt, which was generally of silver, the inner ground of
the dial being of brass gilt (or gold) and matted or engraved. In
addition to the numeral, many early watches were furnished with a
i- K
Fig. 329.
knob at each hour, for the convenience of estimating the position
of the hand by feeling. The first noticeable departure from this
construction took place about 1600, when watch dials wholly of one
metal were introduced, with landscapes and other views engraved on
the centre. These dials were usually of silver and recessed into
what is now called a "brass edge," that is, a ring independent of the
plate of the movement, and to which the dial was attached. The
dial was rather smaller than the movement, and a narrow margin of
the brass edge, which appeared outside of the dial, was engraved,
the contrast of the silver and brass having a good effect. A fine
example by Nathaniel Barrow is shown in Fig. 326. The watch by
Edward East, said to have been given by Charles I. to Mr. Herbert,
2l6
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
and engraved on page 261, had a very similar dial. Instead of a
landscape a floral design sometimes occupied the centre, while
occasionally it was engraved to a geometrical pattern and filled in
with coloured enamel or wax, as in a watch by Vincent Costontin,
Dieppe, which is shown in Fig. 327.
Illustrations have already been given of the painted dials on the
costly enamelled watches in vogue during the seventeenth century.
The single hand of the earliest of these was usually of brass, and, except
Fig. 330. — Daniel Le Count, about 1680.
Fig. 331.- r. Dupin, about 17C0.
for watches with cases and dials painted in enamel, gold and silver
dials with long figures in relief came into general use in "England
shortly after the middle of the seventeenth century. On a watch
by Henry Harper, shown in Fig. 328, the outer part of the dial is
of metal, the centre being filled by an enamelled painting, which
is, however, of a later date than the movement. A still more
exceptional and somewhat grotesque treatment of the dial is shown
in Fig. 329, representing a watch made about 1665 by Richard
Jarrett, who was master of the Clockmakers' Company in 1685.
The centre of the dial is of brass matted, and the ring, on the inner
edge of which is engraved quarter-hour spaces, of silver, finely
matted, with polished plaques for the hour numerals,
Pocket WaicJica, etc.
217
With the introduction of the minute hand, the minute circle and
figures to indicate each five minutes appeared outside the hour
numerals. These additions, with the long hour numerals, allowed
of but a very short hour indicator, and this occupied a slightly
recessed centre, as shown in Fig. 330, which represents a watch by
Daniel Le Count, dating from about 1680. Shortly afterwards the
hour numerals were shortened and the hour hand lifted out of the
recess and lengthened, as in the watch by P. Dupin, represented in
Fig. 331. In this the outlines of the hour numerals are polished,
and the bodies filled in with black wax, tlie small ornament between
the numerals being polished
and the minute figures en-
graved on polished plaques.
Except that the inner circle,
marked with sub-divisions of
an hour, was discontinued,
dials of this kind, with slight
variations, remained in favour
for many years. The central
disc was a separate piece
recessed into the brass edge,
and was as a rule nicely
chased and engraved. It
usually bore two tablets for
the name of the maker and
the place of origin of the
watch. An excellent example
is the watch by Langley
Bradley, shown in Fig. 445.
Sometimes the lower label was
omitted and a day-of-the-month aperture substituted therefor. Dials
of this description had a very handsome appearance, and must have
been costly, for cutting out the ground work to leave the plaques for
the minute figures, the outline for the hour numerals and the ornament
between the numerals in relief involved considerable labour. In 1 729,
engravers petitioned the Clockmakers' Company to debar one Griliat
from proceeding with a project he had for producing dial plates by
stamping. Nevertheless, many later ones were embossed in this
way.
Painted enamel dials of the Huaud period had often an outer
ring of white enamel for the reception of the numerals, and towards
Fig. 332. — Pink and white enamel dial
on Tompion watch.
2ll
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
the end of the seventeenth century dials with a gold centre and
outer ring of enamel were favoured by some French makers. Plain
white enamel dials seem to have been introduced in France and
Switzerland about 1690, but Avere not used in England for at least
ten years afterwards.
A pink and white enamel dial, w^ith angels in the centre, on a
Fig
333-
Fig. 334-
Fig. 335.
Fig. 336.
watch by Tompion, from the Hilton Price collection, and dating
from about 1700, is shown in Fig. 332.
Though English watches of the seventeenth century are occa-
sionally to be met with having dials of white enamel, it will
generally be found that they are subsequent applications, the
original dials having probably been discarded owing to the superior
legibility of the white enamelled discs.
So far as my observation goes, the earliest plain enamelled dials
on English watches are those of a bluish tinge, the enamel of which
is generally spoken of as Venetian. They date from about 1705,
and have the nib for unlocking the movement projecting through a
Pocket Watches, etc.
219
slit at the \'I. numeral, as in some of the older and contemporary
metal dials. The visible margin of the brass edge was usually
either engraved or knurled, and the hands were of steel. An
example, given in Fig. 333, has hands of the "beetle" pattern, a
kind very popular then and onwards to tlie middle of the century.
Dials with the minute band formed in a series of wavy curves were
made here during the eighteenth century chiefly for the Dutch
market. They usually had hands of gold or of brass, nicely pierced,
as in Fig. 334.
The bold minute figures which occupied so much room outside
Fig. 337.
Fig. 338.
the hour circle were gradually discarded. On a Avatch by Cabrier,
dating from about 1740, and shown in Fig. 335, there are small
minute figures at the quarter-hours only, and a little later came into
favour dials with small and stumpy hour numerals, as in Fig. 336,
the minute figures being entirely omitted. The hands of the Cabrier
watch are of gold. Owing to the character and arrangement of the
figures, the hour indicator, which is beautifully pierced, appears to
be rather short. If it were a solitary example one might suppose
the hands or the dial to be not original, but I incline to the belief
that a certain proportionate length of hand was as a matter of course
selected for a certain size of dial, The French and, I think, the
220
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Swiss, adhered longer to the large minute figures than did English
manufacturers.
Fig. 337 shows a French watch dating from about 1770, which is
a good example of the period, with a hole for winding cut through
the dial, a plan much favoured in France for fifty years or so from
that date, but not so popular in England. Lepine, who reconstructed
the movements of watches, was, I believe, responsible for the
systematic adoption of this feature, though winding at the dial was
occasionally resorted to for watches having painted enamel cases
Fig. 339.
Fig. 340.
a century before his time and for the thick French watches with
porcelain enamel hour figures, in some of which the unsightly holes
in the dial were avoided by planting the winding square at the centre.
Many French and Swiss watches made towards the end of the
seventeenth and at the beginning of the eighteenth centuries had
the hour numerals on enamelled plaques, though they do not seem
to have been favoured here. A dial of this sort is on the alarum
watch shown in Fig. 338, made about 1680 by Dumont Freres,
Besan9on. The body of the dial is of brass gilt. Another specimen
of about ten years later, by I. Mornand, Paris, is shown in Fig. 339.
Pocket Watches, etc. 221
Watches of this class were very thick, and had cases of brass gilt
and engraved to a fine pattern.
Watches made for the Dutch market were often fitted with silver
dials having raised numerals filled with wax, and ornamental centres
of various designs engraved and pierced. Occasionally a figure of
Time was introduced, the Destroyer being represented with a flag
in his hand, on which the name of the maker was engraved. A
watch with a silver dial by John Van Ceulen, of The Hague, having
the wavy minute circle already mentioned, and dating iVom about
1700, is shown in Fig. 340.
Dials of metal, with polished hour numerals of a different tint
soldered on, introduced during the latter part of the eighteenth
century, were for some time popular ; a specimen of this style, on
a watch by James McCabe, is shown in Fig. 341. But though
considerable skill has been expended in the enrichment of metal
dials by chasing and engraving as well as by variations of colour,
enamel has practically ousted all other materials, except for scientific
purposes, where extreme accuracy of division is desired.
In modern dials the hour numerals are too long, the position of
the hands being more easily discerned with the stumpy figures used
in the earliest timekeepers. The fact is, the dialmaker has been
allowed to regard his work without reference to the hands, and he
has adopted a rule to make the " chapters" in length equal to two
and a half minutes of the circle, because they are more obtrusive
than the shorter ones previously used. The most effective hands
were those seen in clocks and watches of the eighteenth century.
The chief fault of most varieties now used is that the spade or heart
or other enlargement of the hour hand is too close to and overlaps
the numerals. It should be of good size and nearer the root of the
hand, the tip of which, though closely approaching, should in its
sweep just clear the numerals.
People who are used to reading a dial with but one indicator can
estimate the time with astonishing closeness, and it is pretty certain
the two hands did not meet with general favour for a long period.
Although we are, from long practice, able to instantly note the
minute and hour from the position of the two indicators, it is an
acquirement. Children and other tyros seem to go through a slower
process by separating the functions of the two and deciding upon
the position of each singly. In fact, there can be no doubt that it is
at first difficult to decipher the double indication together. Many
devices were tried during the latter part of the seventeenth century
222
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
to give the accuracy of the separate minute circle without the
confusion of two similar hands. Of these may be mentioned dials
with revolving centres, having a finger to point to the hours. In
another plan representations of the sun and moon were utilized
for the purpose. Sometimes figures corresponding to the current
hour were shown through an aperture in the dial, and warriors
with swords as pointers are among the most familiar of other
varieties.
Fig. 342 represents a watch by Tompion, from the collection of
Mr. Schloss. It is in an enamelled case and dates from about 1705.
Though the concentric minute hand was introduced certainly thirty
Fig. 341. — Watch by Jas. McCabe. Fig. 342. — Curious Tompion watch.
years before this date, the specimen here shown has only one hand ;
but the chief peculiarity in connection with the dial is its division
into six hours. Here the idea is evidently to give with one hand a
longer space than usual for more nearly estimating small fractions of
an hour. Quare adopted the same method, as will be seen from the
following advertisement, quoted from the London Gazette for March
25-29, 1686: "Lost, on 2nd inst., a Silver Pendulum Watch, the
name Daniel Quare, London; it had but six hours upon the dial-
plate, with six small cipher figures within every hour, the hand
going round every six hours, which shows also the minutes between
every hour. Whoever gives notice of it to Daniel Quare, at the
Pocket ]Vatches, etc.
223
King's Arms, in Exchange Alley, London, shall have a guinea
reward."
Early Minute-hand Watches. — Fig. 3.1.3 shows the front and
Fig. 344 the movement of a watch dating from about 1665, which is
a particularly interesting specimen, and affords evidence that the
maker of it was far in advance of his time. It shows hours, minutes,
and seconds, and has a long train -containing the same number of
wheels and pinions as modern watches, the minute hand being
attached to the centre pinion. The dial is of silver, and the middle
Fig. 344.
FiG. 343.
portion of it, driven by a pinion on the great wheel arbor, revolves
once in twelve hours, a figure of Time engraved thereon pointing to
the hour ; the seconds dial is a silver plate on the back of the
mo\'ement, the seconds hand being carried by the contrate wheel,
which rotates once in a minute. On the plate is engraved "John
Fitter, Battersea." There is no balance-spring. It has a nicely
pierced and engraved silver balance-cock and arched top harp pillars.
The potence is peculiar, being carried by a pivot into the top plate ;
the side view of it is very wide, nicely pierced, and engraved to a
floral design. On the back of the inner case is engraved a kind of
calendar remembrance shown overleaf. It appears to be a key for
224
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
finding at a glance the days of the month upon which any
particular day of the week will fall. The outer case, covered with
Mar Nov
I
8
15
22
29
A iigus
2
9
i6
23
30
May
Jan
3
lO
I?
24
31
Octob
4
II
i8
25
+
Apr
Jul
5
12
19
26
+
Sep
Dec
6
13
20
27
4-
Jun
Feb
7
14
21
28
4-
leather pique with silver pins, is snapped together without a bolt — a
most unusual construction. This watch was formerly in the Roskell
collection.
On a watch by David Lestourgeon, shown in Fig. 345, there are
Fig. 346.
Fig. 345.
two narrow rotating rings between the centre of the dial and the
hour numerals ; one of these carries a very short and the other a
longer pointer, the former for indicating the hour and the latter for
the minutes.
Pocket Watches, etc.
The handsome key for this watch is shown in Fig. 346. For
winding or setting the hands it is used as a crank ; the squared
extremity at the bottom is for altering the regulator, which may be
done without opening the inner case, an aperture being made in
the back of the case for the purpose.
Perhaps the very best method of indicating the hour and minutes
with one hand only is tliat shown in Fig. 347, which represents a
watch by Peter Garon, illustrated by favour of Mr. Henry Levy, to
whom it belongs. The central disc on which the hour numerals are
engra\ed rotates, but its speed of progression is one-twelfth less than
that of the minute hand.
Starting together on the
completion of any particular
hour, the minute hand would
stand exactly over the
numeral corresponding to that
liour : by the time half an
hour had elapsed the minute
hand would stand mid-way
between the aforesaid numeral
and the next succeeding one,
and at any other point the
relation of the hand to the
hour numerals would corre-
spond to the fraction of the
hour, while the tip of the
hand would mdicate the
minutes. In the sketch the
indication is twenty - five
minutes past seven. Both parts of the dial are of silver, the annular
space between the hours and minutes being engraved as shown.
Though but little is known of Peter Garon, he was elected to the
freedom of the Clockmakers' Company in 1694, ^^^ appears to nave
been a maker of repute at the end of the seventeenth century and
until 1706, when his bankruptcy was noted in the London Gazette.
Watches with Seconds Hands. — The watch by Fitter dating
from about 1665, which, as shown in Fig, 244, has a seconds dial on
the back of the movement, seems to have been quite an exceptional
application of a seconds indicator for watches. Sir John Floyer, a
physician, in 1707 speaks of the " Physician's Pulse Watch," which
he had invented to take the place of the " common sea minute glass "
c.w. g
Fig.
347-
226
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
with which and "common watches " he had been in the habit of trying
pulses. The pulse watch which he caused to be made ran, he said,
for sixty seconds. Harrison's timekeeper with a centre seconds hand
was tested in 1760, and seconds hands were not usually applied to
watches till after that date.
Sun and Moon Hour Indicators. — Two examples of a peculiar
method of indicating the hour which obtained some popularity at the
end of the seventeenth century are shown in Figs. 348 and 349.
A semicircular piece is removed from the upper part of the dial, and
Fig. 348.
Fig. 349.
through it is seen one half of a disc which rotates underneath once in
twenty-four hours. On one half of the disc is engraved the sun,
which points to the hour from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on the other the
moon, which performs the same office from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The
minutes are indicated in the usual way by a hand travelling round
the dial in an hour.
Fig. 348 is an early specimen. On the lower portion of the dial
is an engraving, possibly representing Venus in a car drawn by
Cupid. The movement is furnished with tulip pillars, and on the
plate is engraved "Jo Holoway, Newbery." The balance-cock is
of floral design with a narrow waist and foot of irregular out-
Pocket Watches, etc.
227
line following the curve of the plate. The outer case is of steel
damascened with silver.
Fig. 349, of a slightly later date, is inscribed " Harns Smit,
Amsterdam."
Changing Hour Figures. — In this ingenious arrangement,
which is said to have been designed by Prince Rupert, and applied
by Joseph Knibb to a clock, hands are dispensed with altogether,
and numerals corresponding to the last completed hour caused to
appear through a hole in the dial, a principle favoured in recent
years by several inventors, who liave devised various means of
accomplishing this end. As an example of the contrivance is shown
Fig. 350.
Fig. 351.
a watch by M. Logg, of Vienna, from the TNIarfels collection. It has
an upper silver dial on which is chased a group, representing Saturn
dragging the car of Helios. As may be seen by the illustration
Fig. 350, there is above the group on the silver dial a semicircular
slit, through which is visible a second dial lying under it. This
second dial is gilt, for contrast. Above the opening of the silver dial
are engraved the minutes from i to 60, and underneath it the
quarter-hours I. to IV. The lower dial is movable, revolving once
in two hours, and has two circular openings exactly opposite each
other, through which the hour chapters appear upon a silver disc.
A pin is fixed upon and near the edge of the front plate, over which
the dial revolves. The dial passes freely by it, while the projecting
teeth of the two numeral wheels in turn meet the pin, and are each
Q 2
221
Old Clocks and WatcJies and their Makers.
time advanced one hour (see Fig. 351'
Fig. 352.
Fig. 353.
Suppose, in the opening
under which is located the
disc with the even figures,
we see the number II., as
in Fig. 35Q. This number
has entered from the left
into the semi-circular slit
of the silver dial, through
which it slowly passes in
one hour, while the other
numeral wheel (which is
during the same time
under the Saturn group
and therefore invisible),
with the odd figures, passes
by the stationary pin, and
is by it turned one tooth,
or from I. to III. When
the number II. has passed
its course through the
semicircle it disappears to
the right under the Saturn
group, and the number III.
enters from the left into
the semicircle, in order to
pass through its course in
the same manner. The
disc with the hour II.
meanwhile keeps on its
way invisibly, passes the
stationary pin, and is also
turned one tooth further
on, so that at the next
hour it enters again with
the number IV. from the
left into the semicircle of
the silver dial. This pro-
cedure is repeated with all
the succeeding numerals.
The number of minutes
which have elapsed since
Pocket Watches, etc.
229
the last completed hour is indicated by the position of the revohang
hour chapter with relation to the figures which are engraved on
the fixed dial plate.
Fig. 352 shows another watch of this character, taken from the
catalogue of the Geneva Exhibition, i8g6. It is by Paul Lullin, and
most probably French. In the lower portion of the fixed dial is an
enamelled medallion, with portrait, said to be that of Louis XIV.
when a youth,
Mr. Henry Levy has one of these curiosities by Fronianteel, which
may be either English or Dutch. On the lower part of the fixed
354
Fig. 355-
dial is a late seventeenth century design, with birds, etc. A
peculiarity of this watch is that the fusee may be turned either way
to wind it, a device advertised by Thomas Moore, of Ipswich, in
1729, and illustrated by Thiout in i7-|i.
In Fig. 353 the arrangement is varied, and the whole of the
actuating mechanism is visible. On a carriage which revolves once
in three hours are three crosses, each carrying four hour numerals on
enamelled discs. These in turn pass over an enamelled arc on
which every minute is marked
"Fencing Soldiers'" Watch.— Figs. 354 and 355 show a
230 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
watch of very peculiar construction from the Marfels collection,
dating probably from about 1760. The metal dial plate has a blue
enamelled ground, with thin white lines, and upon it are fastened two
quadrants. The hours from I. to XII. are marked upon one, and
upon the other the minutes from i to 60. It also bears two chased
figures of soldiers in a fencing attitude, one on each side of the
quadrants. By pressing upon the pendant, the soldiers draw their
swords, the one to the left pointing with his sword to the hour, while
the one to the right points to the minute upon their respective
quadrants. The construction is shown in Fig. 355, which is the
movement without the dial. Upon the arbor of the wheel, which is
usually in the centre, is the cannon a, upon which is fixed the snail
used for determining the minutes. The cannon drives in the
ordinary manner a minute wheel, the pinion of which depths in a
wheel located to one side, which it rotates once in twelve hours.
Upon the latter wheel is fastened a snail for determining the hour.
When the pendant is pressed down, the two levers h b are first
unlocked, which unlocking actuates the four racks c c and e e, each
two of which depth together into pinions//. Upon the arbors of
the two pinions / / are placed the arms of the soldiers. By the
unlocking of the levers b b, the racks e e (situated abo\e the centre of
the plate), freed from the arm d d, are then moved upward by springs
operating on them. The pinions / /, into which the racks depth,
turn an appropriate distance, and with them the arms of the soldiers,
which are located on the pinions, and thereby carry with them
downward at the same time the lower stationary racks c c. These
racks c c are provided with projections, which in their downward
motion finally strike upon the snails, the one to the left lying upon
the hour rack, and that to the right upon the minute rack. When
the pressure upon the pendant is removed, all the parts of the
motion work, and with them also the arms of the soldiers are by a
spring brought back into a position of rest. The cannon pinion a,
fitting with gentle friction upon the centre wheel arbor, is provided
with a setting square passing through the dial, for the purpose of
setting the motion work mechanism.
Pendulum Watches. — A curious fancy which obtained some
popularity at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the
eighteenth centuries is shown in Fig. 356. The balance was placed
under the dial and its arms weighted. A semi-circular slit in the
dial allowed one weight of the balance to be seen, and this as it
vibrated somewhat resembled a pendulum in motion. It was, how-
Pocket Watches, etc.
231
ever, an inconvenient arrangement, by reason of the difficulty of
getting at the balance for regulation, and it appears to have been
abandoned in favour of a pendulum balance at the back of the watch.
The watch here illustrated is
by " Mitzell, London," and
dates from about 1700.
Musical Watches of
large size with moving
figures were a favourite con-
ceit among French and Swiss
makers during the latter
part of the eighteenth cen-
tury. The appended ex-
ample (Fig. 357) is from the
collection of Mr. James W.
Usher. It is mounted on
Fig. 356.
both sides with fine pearls
and chased gold. The
back is enamelled with a
landscape in colours ; in
the foreground is a
pa\ilion (supposed to
represent a place at
Versailles) and figures,
in gold of different
colours: inside are small
figures (couples of lady
and gentleman) in the
dress of the Louis Seize
period, which dance
when the mo\'ement is
wound. The ladyseated
outside the pavilion plays
the harp, and the gentleman seated opposite beats time with his baton.
Inside the pavilion are walls of burnished steel, which reflect and
multiply the dancing figures in a remarkable manner. The escapement
Fig. 357. — Musical watch with moving figures.
232
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
is a cylinder one with brass scape wheel. The going part is
driven direct from the barrel. The musical box and figures are
driven by one main-
spring, the train passing
beneath the pavilion and
revolving the centre of
the floor upon which the
dancers stand ; smaller
wheels being employed to
revolve each pair of
dancers three times for
every one dance round
the room ; the conductor
and harpist being worked
by pins and levers between
the plate and the dial.
A musical watch with
Fig. 35S.
moving figures of a man
playing a violoncello and a
lady a dulcimer is shown in
Fig. 358.
Fig. 359 is a repeating
watch of French make. The
hours and quarters are really
struck on gongs curled
around the inside of the case
in the usual way, but, when
the pendant is pushed in to
repeat, the hammermen in
the recess at the upper part -pio. 359.
of the dial appear to strike
on the bells showm there, and the woman below works a spinning-
wheel.
Pocket Watches, etc.
233
In Fig. 360 the arrangement is a little diflferent. Here the upper
rectangular space is vacant till the pendant is pushed in for repeat-
ing. Then the figure on the
right bearing a huge gong
advances, and the one on the
left comes forward and ap-
pears to strike the hour on
the gong. The quarters are
repeated by the figures below,
and during that operation
the figures abo\e slowly
retire out of sight.
The projected invasion of
England by Napoleon
Buonaparte is treated as an
accomplished fact on the dial
of a watch from the Schloss
Fig. 360.
collection which is shown
in Fig. 361. A large
mo\ing ship in full sail
just appearing above the
horizon occupies the
centre, in the foreground
many ^•essels are por-
trayed, and armed men
are marching up the
shore undeterred by the
firing of some apparently
very primitive cannon.
Above is the inscription,
"Descenteen Angle-
terre."
Another arrangement of moving figures is shown in Fig. 362.
Here the sails of the windmill are constantly moving while
the w^atch is going, and seen through the round aperture is
Fig. 361.
234
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
part of a rotating disc with figures of horses and men painted
thereon.
Many of the metal watch dials of the seventeenth century which
were devoted to other purposes than the indication of the hour or
other subdivisions of a day well repay examination. Here are some
representative specimens from the Schloss collection. Fig. 363
represents a silver single-cased watch which doubtless dates from
about 1640 On the back of the case is the characteristic circular
shutter over the winding hole and the owner's name engraved thus,
" Richard Bailie, at the Abbay." The maker's name is Henry
Fig. 362.
Fig. 363.
Arlaud. There is a spring to control the balance, but there are
unmistakable indications that this was an addition made subsequent
to the manufacture of the watch. The dial is prettily arranged,
gives a calendar, the age and phases of the moon, the signs of the
zodiac, &c. A similar watch by "Jean Rousseau" is to be seen at
the South Kensington Museum.
A double-cased watch by N. Bouquet, of which a front view is
given in Fig. 364, is of about half a century later date ; though
attractive and of broadly the same character as the preceding
example, the execution is comparatively coarse.
Towards the close of the century there set in a taste for pendulum
Pocket ]]'atchcs, etc.
235
U
f'
^ I /
%
/ -A - / ,
I'lG. 364.
li... _V
Fig. 366.
=36
Old Clocks and WatcJies and their Makers.
watches such as the one shown in Fig. 365. The balance was
planted immediately under the dial, and one of two weights on the
rim was visible through a curved slit in the dial, so that it bore a
resemblance to .a pendulum. At the back of the watch, in place of
the balance, was often an enamelled plaque, occasionally exhibiting
painting of artistic merit. This fashion seems to have been intro-
duced by some of the Dutch makers, but it was decidedly an incon-
venient arrangement, which necessitated an inferior method of
Fig. 367.
Fig. 369.
regulation from the front, besides crowding the hour division into a
smaller circle. The name on this watch is Hilderr.
At first sight the large astronomical watch, dating from about 1690,
which is represented in Fig. 366, appears to be of English make, for
it bears the name plate of " Willing, London " ; but on removing
the name plate the signature " Ferdinandus Zehng, Hamburg," is
revealed. The dial is really excellent ; the engraving shows it was
prepared for use in Germany. Such a watch at that period would
doubtless be made to order for presentation to some person of
distinction.
One of the finest calendar watches of late eighteenth century pro-
duction it has been my privilege to examine is shown in Figs. 367,
Pocket ]\'atchcs. etc.
^-M
368 and 369. It is by Samuel Ruel,
Rotterdam, and stamps him as a horo-
logist of the first rank. Besides the
age and phases of the moon and the
title of the month, it shows through
apertures over the XI. and I. the day
of the month according to the old style
and the new style. The cases bear the
English hall mark of 1788 with the
duty head ; on the back of the inner
case is " A.S." arranged as a monogram.
The outer case has a diamond thumb
piece. There is a rim cap (as seen in
Fig. 371.
Fig. .570.
Fig. 368) of silver, having per-
forations covered with horn.
The cock, as seen in Fig. 369,
is a fine piece of chased work.
A souvenir watch, such as is
shown in Fig. 370, was deserving
of more popularity than it seemed
to have attained. The surface
enclosed by the large circle was
reserved for inscriptions, mono-
grams or other personal refer-
ences. Underneath is the
mechanism of the watch, whose
motion is conveyed to the hands
by means of a small rod con-
cealed in the connecting neck.
On the movement is engraved,
" Inventio Johannis Holtmann
in Wienns No. 25." This speci-
men, which belongs to Mr.
Schloss, dates from about 1780.
A curious little timepiece,
supported by a winged Mercury,
H^SlCLJLiLJL^
Figs. 372 and 373.
Pocket Wntchcs, etc.
239
Fig. 374.
Fig. 375. — Side view of inner case.
240
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
shown in Fig. 371, is fitted with a pendulum arranged to swing in front
of the diaL Altogether it is six inches in height. Around the arch of
the dial is engraved, " Cito Perevnt et Impvtantvr " (They
pass quickly and are reckoned). On the dial are two labels bearing
the words " Chasseur, London " ; these appear to be of later date
than the structure, which is probably a German production.
Large travelling watches introduced at the end of the seventeenth
century continued in favour till the advent of railways. They were
Fig. 376. — Back of outer cover.
thick and heavy, with dials ranging from three inches to nearly seven
inches in diameter, and seem to have been manufactured more in
France and Germany than in England. As a rule they struck the
hour on a bell inside the case, many of the earlier ones being in
addition furnished with an alarum. Afterwards, a repeating motion
took the place of an alarum, so that by pulling a string which passed
through a pipe at the edge of the cover the number of blows last
struck would be again sounded on the bell. They had generally
two cases, an outer one covered with leather or fish skin and an
inner one of silver, which latter material was also used for the dial.
Pocket ]]'iitclu-s, etc.
241
The pendant was sometimes in two pieces connected by a loose
thimble, an arrangement which allowed of sufficient movement
to enable the watch to adjust itself to an adjacent surface when
Fig. 377.
it was hung from the bow. Front and edge views of an excellent
example in a remarkably well pierced and carved silver case dating
from about 1680 are given on page 238. The central portion of
C.W. R
242
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
the dial rotates, indicating the age of the moon and exhibiting her
phases. Through sUts near the outer edge are shown the day of the
week, the day of the month and the title of the month in French. The
Fig. 378.
movement is signed " Samuel Michelin a Langres." This or a very
similar instrument was illustrated in Dubois' historical work.
Another example by Tompion is illustrated in Chapter V. In
Figs. 374, 375 and 376 are shown a rather smaller clock and alarum
watch, which strikes the hours and half-hours. The inner and outer
Pocket Watches, etc.
243
cases as well as the dial are of silver. On the movement is the
inscription, " Philip Graet, Lintz." It is of slightly later date than
the preceding one.
Fig. 377 is a back view of another hne specimen by " Anthony
Bradl, Augsburg," which dates from about 1710: the inner case is
Figs. 379—387.
of silver splendidly pierced and chased, with representations of
hunting scenes, flowers and birds, as shown ; there is an outer case
of fish skin. The number of blows last struck may be repeated at
pleasure by pulling a string depending from the case as already
described.
244 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Back and edge of a beautifully pierced and engraved specimen
signed, " David Buschmann, i\ugusta," and dating from about 1680,
are given in Fig. 378.
Sedan Chair Watches. — During the eighteenth century watch
movements having plain silver dials from three inches to four in
diameter were fixed in circular frames of wood, polished and with a
moulded edge. They were called " Sedan Chair Watches," though
I cannot aver that they were as a rule carried in those useful but
obsolete conveyances. Occasionally one may yet be seen hung on
the wall beside a chimneypiece or at the head of a bedstead. I
have heard timekeepers of this sort spoken of as " Post Chaise
Watches."
'Watch Keys. — Before the advent of the most common variety
of watch key which had a circular ring to afford the necessary
purchase in winding and a smaller swivelled bow for attachment to
the guard or chain there must have been a considerable number of
keys used by our grandmothers and grandfathers and by their pro-
genitors, on the design and construction of which much consideration
and labour had been bestowed. M. Paul Garnier, M. Planchon and
Mr. Arthur F. Hill are among the few collectors of such interesting
adjuncts, of which a few examples are here given. Several of them,
it will be noticed, are formed to give a crank action for winding the
watch, and a separate straight pipe, at right angles to the first, for
the purpose of setting the hands. Keys of this kind appear to have
been very generally used from the middle of the seventeenth to the
end of the eighteenth century. The first of the lowest row seems to
have been intended as a winder for a table clock, while the remain-
ing two, with swivelled bows, recall the days of chatelaines and-fob
chains. Indications are not wanting that hanging chains, as guards
or accessories of timekeepers worn on the person, have in part
returned to popular favour, even though watch keys may not be
numbered among their appendages.
In 1 76 1 George Sanderson, of Exeter, patented a lunar and
calendar watch key, which, when daily pressed on to the winding
square of a watch, caused the mechanism in the key to advance one
day. Etienne Tavermer, a Paris watchmaker who devoted particular
attention to keys at the end of the eighteenth century, made some
on this plan. Eardley Norton, a well-known London maker of
musical clocks, obtained in 1771 a patent for a striking arrangement,
v/hich he said could be conveniently contained in a key, seal or
trinket.
( 245 )
CHAPTER V.
RIXOROS OF KARLY MAKERS, ETC.
Nicholas Cratzer, "deviser of the King's horologies and
astronomer" to Henry \'HI., was a Bavarian, born in 1487, who, it
is said, resided for thirty years in this country without being able to
speak English. In the second part of the facsimiles of the National
Manuscripts, photographed by Colonel Sir Henry James, there is a
letter from Cuthbert Tunstal, Master of the Rolls, who was then in
Germany, to Cardinal W'olsey. It is dated October 12th, 1520,
and contains the following : " Please it your Grace to understand
that here, in these parts, I met with a servant of the King's, called
Nicholas Craczer, a German, deviser of the King's horologes (who
showed me how the King had licensed him to be absent for a
season, and that he was ready to return into England), whom I
desired to tarry until I luight write to the King's Highness, to know
his pleasure whether he would suffer him to be in company with me
for a season, until the assembling of the electors were past." In a
Book of Payments by the Treasurer of the Household from
Candlemas-day, 29 Henry VIII., to Midsummer, 33 Henry VIII., in
the Arundel Manuscripts (No. 97), among the discharges of the former
year (1538) is the entry " Nicholas Cratzer, Astronomer, received
five pounds as his quarter's wages."
Cratzer's connection with Holbein was mentioned on page 167,
and there is no doubt that Holbein assisted Cratzer by designing
cases and decoration for clocks and sun dials. Horace Walpole
purchased at Mons. Mariette's sale a water meter which had been
designed by Holbein as a new year's gift to Henry VIII. On its
summit was a clock driven by wheel work, below were fore and
afternoon dials showing the time by shadows, and beneath these a
clepsydra indicating the quarters of an hour.
Bartholomew Newsam. — Bartholomew Newsam was one of
the earliest English makers of portable clocks whose work survives.
It is conjectured he was a Yorkshireman, but he must have attained
some position in London before 1568, for in that year he secured a
30 years' ^crown Jease of premises in the Strand, near Somerset
246
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
House, where he resided till his death. In the British Museum is a
very fine example of his skill, which proves Newsam to have been
a master of the craft. This is a striking clock, in a case of brass,
gilded and engraved, about 2^ inches square and 4 inches high,
exclusive of an ornamental domed and perforated top, which brings
the total height to 6^ inches. The centre of the dial as far as the
hour ring is below the surface of the case, so that on removing the
base the movement, together
with the centre of the dial and
hand, may be drawn out. The
hours are engraved on a broad
bevelled ring, which extends from
the sunk part of the dial to be-
yond the front of the case. An
exterior view of Newsam's clock
is appended (Fig. 388). The
movement is arranged in stories,
there being three plates held in
position by four corner posts.
Above the top plate is a semi-
circular bell ; between the upper
and middle plates is the going
train, and between the middle
and lower plates the striking
train, the locking plate occupying
a position below the lowest plate.
The arbors are placed vertically,
and the winding holes are at the
bottom of the case. The wheels
are of steel or iron, the fusees very
long, and with but little curve in
their contour ; they are connected
with the barrels by means of cat-
gut. The plates, posts, and barrels
are of brass, the barrel covers of iron held in by a number of tenons
around the edge. The hand is driven from the great wheel of the
going part by a contrate wheel. The escapement is, of course, the
verge. The workmanship, unusually fine for the period, is remark-
ably free from subsequent interference. There is a very small hinged
door on each side of the case, giving, when open, a view of the
fusees to estimate the period for winding. No screws are used in
Fig.
. — Clock by Bartholomew
Newsam.
Records of Early Makers, etc. 247
the construction of the movement, wliich is inscribed " Bartihiiewe
Nevvsiun." A l;ir<,^e clock watch very possibly by him is illustrated
in Chapter III. In vol. Iv. oi Archaologia is illustrated a fine casket
by Bartholomew Newsam.
In the " Calendar of State Papers " of the time of Queen Elizabeth
is a record of a f^rant in 1572 to B. N. (who no doubt was Bartho-
lomew Newsam) of the office of clockmaker to the queen in
reversion after the death or surrender of N. U. (probably Nicholas
Urseau). In tlie same calendar is a letter dated August 5th, 1583,
from Bartilmew Newsham to Sir Francis Walsyngham. This letter
probably refers to a renewal of Newsam's lease, and it desires Sir
Francis to faxour the writer's petition to Her Majesty for the
augmenting a certain term of years, wherein he had moved Sir
Philip Sidney to speak for him. He was clock-keeper to the queen
prior to 15S2, and on June 4th, 1583, under Privy Seal was paid
32s. 'id. for " mending of clocks during the past year." Under date
1590 is a grant to Bartholomew Newsham of the office of clock-
maker to the queen, in place of Nicholas Urseau, deceased.
Newsam appears then to have combined the offices of clock-keeper
and clock-maker, which had previously been kept distinct.
His tenure of the double appointment was a brief one, for he died
in 1593. By his will, dated in 1586, he bequeathed to his apprentice
his " seconde clock"; to John Newsam, clockmaker of York, his
" best vice save one, a beckhorne to stand upon borde, a great fore
hammer, and to (two) hand hammers, a grete longe beckhorne in
my backe shoppe ; and all the rest of my tools I give unto Edward
Newsom, my sonne, with condicion that he become a clockmaker
as I am, yf not I will the foresaid tooles to be sold by my executors."
He gave to a friend "a sonne dyall of copper gylte " ; to another,
" one cristall Jewell with a watche in it, garnished with gould " ; to
another, "one watch clocke, in a silken purse, and a sonne dyall to
stande upon a post in his garden " ; and to another, " a chamber
J clocke of fyve markes price."
Bull. — Rainulph or Randulph Bull appears to have been an
English horologist of some note. In the British Museum is a rather
large oval watch by him, dated 1590. It has on a shield the arms
of the owner and his name, " W. Rowley." Bull was also keeper of
the Westminster great clock. In Devon's Issues of the Exchequer
there is an entry under date 1617, ist of April : "By Order, dated
29th March, 161 7. To Ranulph Bull, keeper of his Majesty's great
clock, in his Majesty's palace at Westminster, the sum of ^56 135. 4^,,
248
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
in full satisfaction and discharge of and for divers sums by him
disbursed for mending the said clock, in taking the same and other
quarter clocks all in pieces, and repairing the same in the wheels,
pulleys, hammers, weights, and in all other parts, and in new
hanging, wiring, and cordings of the same clock, and other necessary
reparations thereunto belonging, the charge whereof, with his own
workmanship and travail therein, doth amount to the sum aforesaid,
appearing by a note of the particular demands, delivered upon his
oath, taken before one of the Barons of his Majesty's Exchequer,
without account or imprest
to be made thereof. By
writ dated 27th March,
1617, £5^ 135- 4^-"
In an account of the
household expenses of
Prince Henry, in 1610,
"Emanuel" Bull, the
" clocke-keeper," is men-
tioned.
At the South Kensington
Museum are two watches
inscribed " Edmund Bull in
Fleet Street fecit " ; one is in
an oval case of brass and
silver, and the other in an
octagonal case ; both are
early seventeenth century
productions ; a watch, simi-
larly inscribed, in a small
jbval pair of cases of silver, is in the Guildhall Museum.
J Nouwen.- — The w^atch shown in Fig. 389 is by Michael Nouwen,
who was referred to on page 51 . It is from the Schloss collection, and
dates from about 1 590. The very handsome dial is of brass, as is also
the case, finely pierced as shown. The movement is furnished with
the stack freed and a straight bar balance. There are no screws
used in the construction of the watch. Inside of the case is a bell
on which the hours are sounded.
Of perhaps slightly later date is a watch by him in the British
Museum, which has an irregular octagonal -shaped case of crystal ;
the plates of the movement are enamelled. In the Ashmolean
Museum at Oxford is an oval watch with a gilt metal case. The
Fig. 3S9.
Records of Early Makers, etc.
249
dial is engraved with a figure subject, and at each of the hour
numerals a pin projects. The movement is signed " Michael
Nouwen, fecit, 161 3."
Garret. — Among other watches which Octavius Morgan exhibited
to the Archceological Society in 1840 was an early English one in
the form of a Tudor rose. The dial he described as elegantly
engraved and gilt, with an hour circle of silver. There was no
ornament on the balance cock and the movement was imperfect.
The watch was made about 1600 by Ferdinando Garret. In the
British Museum is an o\al watch by the same maker in a case of
metal gilt, of the same period. Another watch by him is mentioned
in the Loudon Gazette for March agth-April ist, 1680, as follows:
" A small eight square Watch, the edges Brass, and the Cover and
Bottom silver, made by Ferdinando Garet."
Grinkin. — Appended is a view of an oval
watch by Robert Grinkin, London, which dates
from about 1605. The case is of silver. In
the British Museum is a still smaller oval watch
of the same period by him, but beyond the
specimens of his work which remain no par-
ticulars of Grinkin appear to be obtainable.
Henche. — In Devon's Issues of the Exchequer,
under date 1605, loth of October, occurs the
entry, " By Order the last of September, 1605, to
Uldrich Henche, clockmaker, or to his assignee,
the sum of 100/. for a clock in manner of a branch
made by him and set up in his Highness's at
Whitehall." And under date 1607, 5th of July, another entry
runs —
Flood. — " To Humphrey Flood, goldsmith, or his assigns, the
sum of ^120, in full satisfaction and payment for a clock covered
with gold, and set with diamonds and rubies and l)y him delivered
to his Majesty's use, at the price of ;^22o, whereof received £"100."
North. — As an example of oval astronomical watches of English
make, such as were popular in the early part of the seventeenth century,
may be taken one in the British Museum, inscribed " William
North, Londini," and of which an exterior view is given in the
subjoined engraving. It shows the hours on the lower and day of
the month on the upper circular band. There are, in addition, four
apertures in the dial. Through the largest of these, on the left, are
sho-vyn the days of the week, with the corresponding allegorical
Fi<
3'jo.
250
Old Clocks and Wafches and their Makers.
figures : Apollo for Sunday, Diana for Monday, Mars for Tuesday,
Mercury for Wednesday, Jupiter for Thursday, Venus for Friday,
and Saturn for Saturday. Through the three openings on the right
are seen the phases of the moon, the quarters of the moon, and its
age in days. These three subjects are all engraved on one circular
plate below. Symbols representing six planets appear in rotation
below the small square on the right, just outside and lower than the
centre of the hour ring. It may with tolerable certainty be affirmed
that the movement of this watch was made about 1615, although
the case is probably of a later date.
William North was admitted as a brother
of the Clockmakers' Company in 1639,
and the fact of his being noted as a
brother would indicate that he had then
been established for some time, and was
free of another company.
Crayle. — In the South Kensington
Museum is a particularly diminutive
watch in a plain oval case, which
measures outside but half an inch in
length and three-eighths of an inch across,
by Richard Crayle, London, and said to
have belonged to Lord Hussey, who was
beheaded in 1537. I am not aware what
evidence exists to warrant this state-
ment, but 1537 is rather an early date
for a watch of this character to be in
existence, and I should be inclined to
think it was the production of the Richard
Crayle who was a member of the Black-
smiths' Company before the existence of the Clockmakers' Company,
and who signed the petition for its incorporation.
Two views of a large oval alarm watch signed " Richard Crayle
Londini fecit,'' and not later than 1610, are given in Figs. 392 and
393. The first shows the front cover closed, and the second exposes
the whole of the dial. On the back plate are two small rotating
dials of silver, one engraved with the days of the week, with a
mythological figure corresponding to each, while the other, divided
into months, contains also the signs of the zodiac.
In the British Museum is a round watch movement inscribed
*' William Crayle, in Fleete Street, London," a production of about
Fig. 391. — Watch by William
North, London, about 1615.
Records of Early Maker;;, etc.
251
Fig. 392
Fig. 393.
1620. William Crayle, who in 1676 carried on business in Fleet
Street, and afterwards at the
Black Boy in the Strand,
neat the Savoy, was probably
a descendant of Richard.
Alcock. — Mr. Edward Parr
has a very fine circular calen-
dar watch by Thomas Alcock,
as shown in Fig. 394. The
dial is really superb ; it indi-
cates the age and phases of
the moon by means of the
central rotating disc, and the
day of the month by a rotating
ring outside the hour circle.
The movement is very well
made and in good order ; it
dates from about 1635. The
case is of brass, curiously
engraved, and though old, of
252 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
later date than the movement. Thomas Alcock was one of the
petitioners for the incorporation of the Clockmakers' Company in
1630. In Kingdom's IntcUigcncev, February 4th, 1661, was advertised
as lost " a round high watch of a reasonable size showing the day
of the month, age of the moon, and tides ; upon the upper plate
Thomas Alcock fecit."
David Ramsay. — One of the earliest British watchmakers of
particular renown was David Ramsay.
Among the Salting collection at South Kensington Museum is a
very early watch by him in a small irregular octagonal case of gold
and silver. It has hinged covers over the front and the back, and is
decorated with engravings of the Annunciation and the Nativity.
In the British Museum is an oval watch of his make, with a gold
case in the French style. The period assigned to this watch is 1600
to 1610. It is inscribed " David Ramsay, Scotiis, me fecit."
There is an entry in the account of money expended by Sir David
Murray, Kt., keeper of the privy purse to Henry Prince of Wales,
who died in 1612. "Watches three bought of Mr. Ramsay the
Clockmaker Ixj li " (£^61). In the same account, among the list of
" Guyftes and Rewards," is the item, "Mr Ramsay the clockmaker
xjs" (lis.).
An oval calendar watch, showing the age of the moon, which is
supposed to have belonged to James I., is described in the Archao-
logical Journal, vol. vi. p. 415. It had a plain outer case of silver,
the inner one being beautifully engraved ; on one side was repre-
sented Christ healing a cripple, also the motto used by James, " Beati
pacifici," and on the other side the Good Samaritan with the
inscription, " S. Lucas c. 10." Inside the cover was a well-executed
engraving of James, with his style and titles. Under a small shield
which concealed the hole for winding was the name of the engraver,
" Gerhart de Heck." Around the edge of the case were the Rose,
Harp, and Thistle, and the initials J.R. On the plate of the watch
was engraved, as before, " David Ramsay, Scot its, me fecit," and
these inscriptions, together with the fact that he had a grant of
denization in 161 9, prove that he was a native of Scotland.
Mr. J. Sancroft Holmes had another watch by Ramsay, which was
found seventy or eighty years ago behind the tapestry which then
covered the wall of the dining-room of Gawdy Hall. With the
watch were two apostle spoons and papers relating to the troublous
times of Cromwell. The case of the watch is of silver and shaped
like a star or heraldic mullet of six points,
Records of Early Makers, etc.
253
The engravings appended show a splendid clock-watch with
alarum by him, from the collection of Mr. Evan Roberts, dating
from about 1615. It has the three wheel train usual in early
watches, and Mr. Crewe, in describing the movement, remarks that
the fusee is cut for twelve turns, and the end of the great wheel
arbor, which goes through the pillar plate, is fashioned into six pegs
or leaves, identical with a lantern pinion in its action. These leaves
work in a wheel pivoted into the centre of the pillar plate, having
sixty teeth, and carrying the single hand of the watch. Thus ten
turns of the fusee are equivalent to an entire circuit of the hand on
the dial, and so the watch would require to be wound twice a day.
Fig. 395.— Front view. Fig. 395.— View of edge and back.
Clock-watch and alarum by David Ramsay.
The ratchet wheel, which sets up the mainspring, is on the top plate,
and the stop work is identical in principle with that in modern
fusee watches. The stop for the alarum part is effected by a wheel
and pinion, the wheel having a portion the size of two teeth left
uncut, and which serves as a block to the pinion after it has been
wound three turns. The wheels and pinions have a wonderfully
smooth action, though they appear to be cut by hand rather roughly.
The count or locking wheel of the striking portion is made of silver,
and the notches have been certainly made with a file. The alarum
part has a verge escapement with counter and crown wheels.
Attached to its verge is a V-shaped piece of brass with an arm, and
254 C>!d Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
this pressed by a spring drops into a notch made in the edge of a
brass disc on the hand or hour wheel, and so Hberates the verge and
lets off the alarum. Between this disc and the hour wheel, and
working concentrically with them, is a star wheel having twelve
teeth, which by lifting up a brass arm connected with the count
wheel causes it to strike. The potence is a rather slender piece of
square brass, and is riveted to the top plate, and the banking is
made by steps cut in it. These riveted potences are found in nearly
all watches made before 1700. The balance cock is a slender piece
of work, and is pierced throughout, and the neck very narrow, so
different from specimens of Tompion and other later masters. The
case is very elegant in design, and is pierced in the back and band,
the bezel being engraved, and in every respect it will compare
favourably with any work of the kind. Curiously enough, the band
is silver, and bezel and back of bronze, and the whole case gilt.
On the margin of the top plate, in tiny characters, as if almost to
escape observation, is engraved, " David Ramsay inv' Fecit," the
et having been obliterated.
R. B. P., in the Dictionary of National Biography, says David
Ramsay belonged to the Ramsays of Dalhousie, and quotes
Ramsay's son William to the effect that " when James I. succeeded
to the crown of England he sent into France for my father, who
was there, and made him page of the bedchamber and keeper of
his Majesty's clocks and watches." In 1613, James gave David
Ramsay a pension of ^"200 per annum, and in the same year a
further pension of /"50 per annum. In the grant he is styled
" Clockmaker Extraordinary." In 1616 a warrant was signed to
pay him ^'234 105. for the purchase and repair of clocks and
watches for the king. On November 26th, 1618, he was appointed
to the office of " Chief Clockmaker " to his Majesty, with fees and
allowances for workmanship. On September 30th, 1622, he received
^232 155. for repairing clocks at Theobalds, Oatlands, and West-
minster, and for making a chime of bells adjoining the clock at
Theobalds.
In 1625 James I., his patron, died, but Ramsay appears to have
retained his appointments, for on January 25th, 1626, a warrant to
pay to David Ramsay ^150 for coins to be given by the king,
Charles I., on the day of his coronation, was signed. Again,
"March 17th, 1627, is a warrant to David Ramsay, Page of the
Bedchamber and Clockmaker, £^{^1 35. 4^. for work done for his
late Majesty, and /'358 16s. Sd. in lieu of diet and bouche of Court."
Records of Early Makers, etc. 255
In 1628, July 13th, a warrant was signed to pay him /'415 for clocks
and other necessaries delivered for the king's service.
Among the State Papers Dom. 1653 are two receipts taken from
the Jewel House at Whitehall soon after the death of Charles I.
The first is as follows: " 18 die Feb. 1649. Reed, one clocke with
divers mocons, two globes, one case for a clocke, and a glassee, one
Bullet Clocke, one clocke with five bells, and one other clocke, all
which were lying at Whitehall late in the charge of David Ramsay."
The second is merely a subsidiary receipt of the same date for "one
other clocke in a Bow received from Ramsay."
Sir Walter Scott introduces Ramsay as a character in " The
Fortunes of Nigel," as the keeper of a shop a few yards to the east-
ward of Temple Bar, and in a note to that novel he is described as
"Constructor of Horologes to His most Sacred Majesty James I."
That Ramsay was the most celebrated watchmaker of the day
may be inferred from the fact that w^hen the clockmakers obtained
their charter of incorporation, he was therein appointed to the office
of master. He does not appear to have taken a \ery active part in
the management of the company. During his absence in the country,
Mr. Henry xA.rcher was appointed deputy master. William Ramsay
dedicated " Vox Stellarum " to his father in 1652, and in a postscript
dated 1653 remarks, " from my study in my father's house in Holborn,
within two doors of the 'Wounded Hart,' near the King's Gate," and
there David Ramsay probably died. The exact date of his death is
uncertain, but it occurred about 1654, ^^^ though his age is not
stated, he was then certainly very much past the meridian.
He is known to have been an inventor or schemer from the
beginning of the century, and between 1618 and 1638 he took out
no less than eight patents, none of which, how'ever, seemed to be
connected with horology ; they related to raising water, draining
mines, making saltpetre, separating gold and silver from the base
metals, smelting iron, constructing furnaces of various kinds, dyeing
fabrics, etc. He was a friend of James Lilly the astrologer, who, in
his autobiography, relates that he accompanied Ramsay to West-
minster at night to make some experiments w'ith a view to discover
treasure by means of the divining rod.
William Partridge. — In the "Calendar of State Papers"
(Domestic Series), under date May, 1660, there appears the
following petition to the king from Captain William Partridge,
setting out "that hee was sworne servant to yo"' Royall father of
blessed memory, and to yo' Ma"' in the yeare 1645, to attend ye
256 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
in the qualitie of a Clockmaker, and did officiate in that place,
all the time of his Ma"^' being at Oxford, And did likewise serve
his Ma''^ a yeare and a halfe in his life Guard of foote ; And afeterwards
did raise a Company att his owne charge ; And hath bene a great
sufferer by Plundring Imprisonm'' and expulcons. Hee most
humbly prayeth that yo' Ala''* will vouchsafe unto him the like
grace and favo"" as to others of yo' servants is extended, That hee
may bee restored unto his said place of Clockmaker to yo' Ma"* w'"'
all such priviledges and Impunities as belong unto it according to
his warrant."
On the same page there is also a petition from Sarah his wife,
begging that her husband's place may not be filled up until he has
been heard for himself ; that he was bred under Mr. Este (? East),
spent much time in improving himself in his trade in France and
Flanders, and only discontinued it when in arms or in prison for His
Majesty. At the foot of the petition is the note, " To succeede Da.
Ramsay." But nothing further is known of Partridge, and he may
be passed over. The king's clockmaker, after Ramsay, really seems
to have been Edward East, of whom more will be said hereafter.
The Clockmakers' Company. — In 1627 a proposal to grant
letters patent authorising French clockmakers to carry on their trade
within the city appears to have occasioned an agitation among the
London craftsmen in favour of incorporation as a trade guild. Prior
to that date, individual freemen had been associated with one or other
of the existing companies, that of the blacksmiths having been most
favoured. In 1630 a committee of clockmakers was formed, funds
were raised to defray expenses, and petitions were addressed to the
king, with the result that a charter was obtained from Charles I. on
the 22nd of August, 1 63 1.
In this document, " the Master, Wardens, and Fellowship of the
Arts or Mystery of Clockmaking of the City of London " had very
comprehensive powers for ruling and protecting the rights of the
craft. They were entitled to make bye-laws for the government of
all persons using the trade in London, or within ten miles thereof,
and for the regulation of the manner in which the trade should be
carried on throughout the realm. And in order to prevent the
public from being injured by persons " making, buying, selling,
transporting, and importing any bad, deceitful, or insufficient clocks,
watches, larums, sun-d^als, boxes, or cases for the said trade," powers
were given to the company " to enter with a constable or other
officer any ships, vessels, warehouses, shops, or other places where
Records of Early Makers, etc. 257
they should suspect such bad and deceitful works to be made or
kept, for the purpose of searching for them " ; and, if entrance
should be denied, they might effect it by force. Any such works as
were faulty or deceitfully wrought they had power to seize and
destroy, or cause them to be amended. Every member of the
fellowship paid fourpence a quarter to meet the necessary expense of
these searches. In 1708 this quarterage produced over £28.
By the charter, David Ramsay was appointed to be the first
master; Henry Archer, John Willowe, and Sampson Shelton were
the first wardens ; and James Vantrollier (or Vautrollier), John
Smith, Francis Foreman, John Harris, Richard Morgan, Samuel
Linnaker, John Charlton, John Midnall, Simon Bartram, and
Edward East, assistants of the said fellowship of the said art or
mystery.
The charter also declared that future masters and wardens must
be, or have been, professed clockmakers, an important regulation,
which certainly appears to have been contravened in late years.
The right of search was exercised regularly till 1733, when it was
abandoned.
On the incorporation of the company, stringent by-laws were
made regarding apprentices. No person was to take an apprentice
without leave of the master, and then to have but one, until he shall
be called to bear the office of master, warden, or assistant, and after
that, not to exceed the number of two apprentices at any time
whatsoever. But when his first apprentice had served five years,
any member of the fellowship might take another, but not sooner,
under a penalty of £10. And in the early history of the company
several of its members were brought to account and fined for
disobeying this regulation. Among them were several eminent
members of the craft, including Thomas Loonies and Ahasuerus
Fromanteel.
Then it was ordained that after an apprentice had servedh is time
he should serve his master or some other member of the fellowship
for two years as journeyman, and produce his " masterpiece " of
work before he was allowed to be a workmaster. This period of
probation might, if the company saw fit, be commuted to one year
on payment of a fine.
Those craftsmen who had joined the Blacksmiths' and other
Companies prior to the incorporation of the Clockmakers', were from
time to time admitted as " brothers " of the Clockmakers' Company.
As provided by the charter, the " court " or directorate consists
c.w. s
258
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
of the master, three wardens, and ten or more assistants. The
assistants are chosen for Hfe from among the freemen, and the usual,
but not invariable, course is that the assistants fill the higher offices
in succession, according to seniority ; each one being elected first as
junior warden, the next year as renter, the next year as sfenior
warden, and the following year as master. After his retirement as
master, he resumes his seat as an ordinary member of the court.
Occasionally members were transferred from and to other com-
panies. In 1636 Mr. Richard Masters was transferred from the
Clothiers' at a cost to the Clockmakers' Company of ;^io 95. 6d. A
lesser sum sufficed for the transference, in the same year, of Mr.
Dawson and Mr. Durant from the Imbroderers'. In 1724 Mr. John
Shirley gave a bond to pay the Clockmakers' Company ;^2o for
being transferred to the Vintners'. On
Mr. James Masters applying in 181 1 to be
transferred to the Goldsmiths', a little
haggling appears to have ensued. The
Clockmakers' Company at first demanded
^"50 for consenting ; Masters offered /"30
in 1 81 2, and this amount was accepted.
George Russell, in 1844, had to pay the
Clockmakers' Company /'30 for permission
to be transferred to the Salters', and an
additional £^ for a special meeting of the
court to attend the Court of Aldermen with
the Salters' Company.
In 1656 Ahasuerus Fromanteel and 31 other members complained
to the court that, in spite of members having to pay xii''- a quarter,
the meetings were held in taverns. They also objected to the
presence of Frenchmen among the ruling body, and recounted other
grievances. A counter-petition traversed the allegations, and
asserted the confidence of the signatories in ^-he management of
the company.
In 167 1 the company obtained the right to bear arms, and in that
year letters patent were granted for this distinction. They recounted
" that whereof at present Nicholas Coxeter is Master, Samuel Home
and Jeffery Bailey are Wardens, as also Edward East, the only
persons now living of those mentioned in the said Letters Patents
of Incorporation, John Nicasius, John Pennock, Edmond Gilpin,
Jeremie Gregory, Thomas Taylor, Thomas Clayton, John Freeman,
Evan Jones, Isaac Daniell, John Browne, Nicholas Payne, Richard
Fig. 397.
Records of Early Makers, etc. 259
Ames, and Benjamin Bell, are Assistants, and to the rest of the
Fellowship and Company thereof, and to their successors for ever.
The Armes, Crest, Supporters and Motto hereafter mentioned,
viz'- Sable, A Clock y"-' 4 Pillars therefore erected on four lyons, and
on each capitall a globe with a Crosse, and in the middest an
Imperial Crowne all Or, and for Their Crest upon an helmet Proper
Mantled Gules Doubled Argent and Wreath of their Colours a
Spheare Or, The Armes Supported by the Figures of a Naked Old
man holding a Scithe and an Hour Glasse representing Time, and
an Emporour in Roabes Crowned holding a Scepter, Their Motto —
TEMPVS RKKVM IMPERATOR.
As in the margent they are all more lively Depicted."
In 1677 Mr. George Deane, engraver, a member of the company,
" having by the hands of Henry Jones presented to this court the
company's coat of arms engraved on a copper-plate fit to be used
for tickets and divers other occasions of the company which was \'ery
well liked, this court did kindly accept it, and returned him thanks."
During the latter part of the seventeenth century the suitability
of watchmaking as a profession for women was recognized, and in
1 715 the company sanctioned the taking of female apprentices.
The names of several will be found in the list at the end of this book,
where also is recorded the admission of a few female members of the
company. The employment of female labour in watch work does
not, however, seem to have made much progress in England till
watch factories were established in quite recent years.
In 1 78 1 it was decided to elect leading members of the trade as
honorary freemen. This course, politic as it probably was, seems to
indicate tliat at this period the prestige of the company in the horo-
logical world was insufficient to induce distinguished craftsmen to
take up the freedom in the ordinary way.
The company has never risen to the importance and comfort of
possessing a hall of its own for meetings and other business. For
brief periods during its history it had the use of a hall belonging
to a more favoured guild, but most of its meetings were held in
taverns, more than forty of these establishments having been so
favoured. Its last meeting before the Great Fire of London was
held on August 20th, at the Castle Tavern, in Fleet Street ; and the
first meeting after, on October 8th, 1666, at the Crown Tavern, m
Smithfield. Later still the Devil Tavern, near Temple Bar, was
patronized.
s 2
26o Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Only a certain number of freemen from certain of the companies
is oermitted to take up the Hvery or freedom of the City, the
whole matter being in the discretion of the Court of Aldermen.
The claims of the Clockmakers' Company were not recognized in
this respect till 1766, when it was allowed to select 60 of its
members for the privilege ; this number was upon petition increased
to 120 in 1786, a still further increase to 200 was sanctioned in 1810,
and in 1826 the present limit of 250 was reached.
No. 2 of the by-laws provided " that every person of the said
Fellowship chosen in the said Livery shall accept and take upon
him to be of the said Livery, and shall within fourteen days after
notice of such election take such oaths as by these ordinances shall
be appointed for him."
The honour of election to the livery does not seem to have been
always appreciated, for in 181 3 " William Mansell, of Rosoman St.,
Clerkenwell, Watch casemaker, who was summoned to take the
Livery on the 19th August, 1812, again on 7th September, 1812, and
repeated on the nth October last, was peremptorily summoned
to be at this court, and being now in attendance for the first
time, refused to take the Clothing, and the penalty of Fifteen
Pounds being awarded against him for such refusal, he paid
the sum in Court, and his Election to the Livery was thereupon
discharged."
"William W'elborne, of Leather Lane, Holborn, has been sum-
moned to take the Livery in November, 181 1, and also in January,
February, and July, 181 2, but having failed so to do, was again
summoned for that purpose to the last Quarter Court, when he
attended and requested until this day, promising either to take the
clothing or pay the penalty for refusal. He being now present and
declining to take the same, the penalty of ^15 was ordered to be
enforced, which being paid in Court, his election to the Livery was
likewise thereupon discharged."
The fine on taking up the livery was then fixed at ;^2i.
In 1820 it was resolved to allow the quarterly payments or
quarterage from members in support of the company to be com-
muted by an immediate payment ; the amount to be paid being
dependent on the age of the member availing himself of the arrange-
ment. The tee to be paid on taking up the freedom of the company
by purchase was in 1876 increased to £^.0.
As already stated, the company does not possess a hall of its own.
Its business is transacted at the Guildhall, where, by permission of
Records of Early Makers, etc.
261
the Corporation, its library is kept and its reniarkalily fine museum of
timekeepers displayed so as to be accessible to the public.
Edward East. — Edward East, watchmaker to Charles I., was a
true horologist and a worthy successor to David Ramsay. He at
onetime resided in Pall Mall, near the tennis court, and attended the
king when tennis and other games were being played in the Mall, his
Majesty often providing one of East's watches as a prize. Edward
East seems to have removed to Fleet Street, for it is related that at
a later period the king's attendant, Mr. Herbert, failing in the
punctual discharge of his^duties in the morning, his Majesty
Fig. 398.
Vu.. j99.
provided him with a gold alarum watch, which was fetched from the
king's watchmaker, Mr. East, in Fleet Street. He was in Fleet
Street in 1635, for a correspondent of Notes and Queries had in 1900
a MS. Return of Strangers within the ward of Farringdon Without
wherein East is referred to as of Fleet Street, in the parish of St.
Dunstan's in the West, and as the employer of one Elias Dupree, a
Dutchman. The locality of a presumably still later residence is indi-
cated by a reference to " Mr. East at the Sun, outside Temple Bar," in
the Loudon Gazette, January 22-26, 1690. A very large silver alarum
clock-watch by Edward East, which was kept at the bedside of
Charles I., was presented by the king on his way to execution at
Whitehall, on January 30, 1649, to his faithful and attached servant,
262 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Mr., afterwards Sir, Thomas Herbert. It was illustrated in " Sussex
Archgeological Collections," 1850, and in the AvchcBological Journal,
vol. vii., from which Figs. 398 and 399, two-thirds the size of the
watch, are reproduced. I presume its history is well authenticated.
The owner of it, Mr. William Townley Mitford, was quoted as
saying, " It came into possession of my family by intermarriage with
the Herberts about a century ago, and since that time has remained
with us," and the Society of Antiquaries seemed to be quite satisfied
with their examination. Still, from the engravings, it is rather a
perplexing watch. The dial and pierced back are of Charles I.
period, and though a minute hand at that date would be very
unusual, it would not be an impossible adjunct ; presumably there
was also an hour hand, but I can see no alarum disc or indicator ;
the centre of the dial may, of course, have been turned to set the
alarum, but there is no sign of its having been so utilized. Amongst
the collection of autographs and manuscripts in the possession of
Mr. Alfred Morrison, of Fonthill House, Wilts, is a warrant, dated
June 23rd, 1649, from the Committee of Public Revenue to Thomas
Fauconbridge, Esq., Receiver- General, authorizing him to pay
" vnto Mr. Edward East, Watchmaker, the so'me of fortie pounds
for a ^Vatch and a Larum of gould by him made for the late King
Charles by directions of the Earle of Pembrooke, by order of the
Committee, and deliuered for the late King's use the xviith of January
last." In the Fellows collection at the British Museum is a
splendid octangular crystal-cased watch, a recumbent female figure
holding an hour-glass being engraved on the dial ; 1620 is mentioned
as the probable date of this specimen of East's work, (^f about the
same period is the small oval watch by him shown in Fig. 400.
Another example of his work is the pretty little watch of slightly
later date having an outer case and with a faceted crystal over the
dial which is represented in Fig. 401. Two views of a clock-watch
by East in a finely pierced and engraved case and also with a crystal
covering for the dial are given in Figs. 402 and 403. These three
watches are from the Schloss collection.
In the Hilton Price collection is the little watch by East which is
represented in Fig. 404. The dial of silver has a view engraved on
it, and the case, of the same metal, is fluted ; the channels which
broaden radially from the centre of the back extend over the edge
and are finely engraved.
Wood refers to another watch by him with a silver case in the
form of a cross, the dial being engraved with the Crucifixion and
Records of Early Makers, etc.
263
^^ V<^^-^-^^>'"•*
Fig. 401.
Q
4i
V>
' /
Fig. 402.
Fig. 40J.
264
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
angels. In the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford is a watch by East
with gold case in the form of a melon, studded all over with
turquoises, the pendant being enamelled blue to match. Two other
undoubted specimens of this master's work are in the Guildhall
Museum. One, a watch movement, inscribed, " Eduardus East,
Londini," was thus described by E. J.Thompson: " The fusee of
ten turns is cut for gut. There are great second and contrate wheels,
and a left-handed cut balance wheel, the verge being of course left-
handed. The end of the verge is driven into the balance, which has
one straight bar or arm. The cock is secured on a stud by a pin.
There is no provision for a balance spring,
and the regulating must have depended
upon the setting up or down of the main-
spring by the endless screw. It had one
hand only. The fusee is hollow, having
the cap and winding square solid ; it is
fitted on to an arbor riveted on the great
wheel. The great wheel has fifty-five,
the second forty-five, the contrate forty,
and the balance-wheel fifteen teeth ; the
second, contrate, and balance pinions
being all of five leaves."
The second example is a watch in a
silver oval case with hunting cover,
having a crystal centre, which E. J.
Thompson described as finely worked in
to suit its shape. The dial is of silver,
and is traversed by an hour hand only.
The movement is inscribed, as in the
first instance, "Eduardus East, Londini." There is a twelve-turn
fusee cut for catgut. The mainspring is white and no doubt original.
In the British Museum is a watch by East with a tortoiseshell
case, dating from about 1640. South Kensington Museum also
possesses a specimen of his work. Mr. George Carr Glyn exhibited
at the Guelph Exhibition a clock-watch by him in silver pierced
cases.
Among the Wetherfield collection are four long-case clocks and
one bracket clock by East. Illustrations of some of these will be
given in Chapter VII.
Edward East was one of the ten original assistants named in the
charter of incorporation of the Clockmakers' Company, and at once
Fig. 404.
Rccorch of Early Makers, etc. 265
took a leading part in its proceedings, and after serving in the
subordinate capacities was elected master in 1645, a post he again
occupied in 1652. He was the only treasurer ever appointed, and
the creation of the office came about in a curious way. In 1647, the
renter warden, Mr. Helden, refused to give the usual security for the
stock of the company, and in this dilemma the office of treasurer was
created, Mr. East and Mr. Hackett being nominated thereto, and the
former chosen. On the death of Mr. East the office was allowed
to lapse.
Edward East lived to a good age. There is no record of his
death, but it probably occurred not long after 1693. In 1692 his
([uondam apprentice and friend, Henry Jones, who was then Master
of the Clockmakers' Company, acquainted the court that Mr. East
desired during his lifetime to make a gift of ^100 to the company
for the benefit of the poor. Mr. Jones added that he would also
contribute a like sum for a similar purpose. In the following year
Mr. East gave the /^loo, and it was ordered " that the master and
wardens do go to Mr. East and give him hearty thanks for his
charity."
Taking into account that Edward East at the time of the incor-
poration of the Clockmakers' Company in 1631 must have been a
man of considerable standing in the trade, it seems probable that
during the seventeenth century there were two of the name, one
succeeding the other. In the " Calendar of State Papers (Domestic)"
is an entry of a grant in 1662 to Edward East of the office of " chief
clockmaker and keeper of the Privy clocks, fee i2d. per day and
;^3 65. 8^. livery."
Under date April 4th, 1662, is an entry of a warrant for an order
to swear in James East, the King's servant, as clockmaker to the
Queen.
Henry Jones. — Henry Jones, already referred to, was apprenticed
to Edward East on August 22nd, 1654. He was made free of the
Clockmakers' Company in 1663, and served as master in 1691-92.
He resided near the Inner Temple Gate, and attained a considerable
reputation, which was quite justified judging from what remains of
his work. Charles II., according to tradition, gave to Mrs. Jane
Lane a clock, in memory of her services after the battle of Worcester.
On the clock was engraved, " Henricus Jones, Londini." In Overall's
"History of the Clockmakers' Company" is a record which just
possibly refers to this clock. It states that, on January 19th, 1673,
" Mr. Henry Jones, clockmaker, acquainted the Court of the
266
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Company that he had made for the King (Charles II.) a clock of the
value of ^"150, whereon was engraven ' Henricus Jones, Londini,'
and which stood in His Majesty's closet for about seven years, but
being by His Majesty given unto a lady it came into the hands of
Robert Seignor, clockmaker, of Exchange Alley, to be repaired, and
he caused Edward Staunton, clockmaker, or some other person, to
take out the maker's name and insert his own."
In North's " Life " it is stated that barometers were first made
and sold by one Jones, a
noted clockmaker in the
Inner Temple Gate, at
the instance of Lord
Keeper Guildford ; and
\ery probably Jones was
the first Englisliman who
constructed a Torricel-
lian tube, as the baro-
meter was originally
called, after its inventor,
Evangelista Torricelli,
who propounded its
theory about 1650.
In the London Gazette
for October 21st to 24th,
i68g, was the following
advertisement : " Lost on
the 2 1st Instant, between
the Hay Market near
Charing Cross and the
Rummer in Queen St.
near Cheapside, a round
Gold Pendulum Watch
of an indifferent small size, showing the hours and minutes, the
Pendulum went with a strait Spring, it was made by Henry Jones,
Watchmaker in the Temple, the Out-Case had a Cypher pin'd on
it, and the Shagreen much worn. If it comes to your hands, you are
desired to bring it to the said Mr. Jones or Mr. Snag, a goldsmith in
Lumbard Street, and you shall have two Guineas Reward."
In the Guildhall Museum is one of Henry Jones's watches, which
Mr. E. J. Thompson speaks of as having very fine pillars. Another
watch by the same maker is in the collection of Mr. Evan Roberts.
Fig. 405.
Records of Early Makers, etc.
267
Fig. 405 shows an early bracket clock by Jones, which belongs to
Mr. A. Riley. The case of oak, veneered with fine pollard oak, is
about 15 inches high and 11 inches broad, has the usual glass
door in front and back, and glass panels at the sides. At the top is
a narrow band or frieze of rosewood fretwork. The signature " Henry
Jones in the Temple " is engraved on the bottom of the dial just
under the circle, but concealed when the door is closed.
The bracket clock with basket top " scjuat " case shown in Fig. 406
was sketched from an ^ -
example by Henry Jones, ^©^©5*
by favour of Mr. Percy — ^* »^
Webster. The cliased
open basket-work and
corner ornaments are
particularly choice.
Mr. Holden,of ^'eadon,
has an eight-day long
inlaid case-clock with a
brass dial, inscribed
"Henry Jones in ye
Temple," which is a later
production than any of
those already quoted.
Henry Jones, who was
the son of William Jones,
vicar of Boulder, South-
ampton, died in Novem-
ber, 1695, aged 53 years,
and was buried within the
precincts of the old
church of St. Dunstan's in the West, Fleet Street, where a monument
was erected to his memory by his widow.
Edward Barlow (Booth). — This talented man was born near
\\'arrington in 1636. He was ordained in the English church at
Lisbon, and took the name of Barlow from his godfather, Ambrose
Barlow, a Benedictine, who suffered at Lancaster for his religion.
Edward Booth devoted considerable attention to horological instru-
ments. He was undoubtedly the inventor of the rack repeating
striking work for clocks, which was applied by Tompion about 1676.
He also devised a repeating-watch on the same principle, and made
application to patent it in 1686. His claim was successfully opposed
FUr. 4OG.
268
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
by Daniel Quare, who was backed by the Clockmakers' Company.
The king, James II., tried both watches, and gave his preference to
Quare's, which repeated the hours and quarters with one push from
a pin near the pendant, whereas Barlow's watch was furnished with
a pin on each side of the pendant and required two distinct operations
to attain the same end.
Booth invented the cylinder escapement, and patented it in
conjunction with William Houghton and Thomas Tompion in 1695
(No. 344). The invention is described as a " ballance wheele either
iiatt or hollow, to worke within and crosse the centre of the verge or
axis of the balance with a new sort of teeth made like tinterhooks to
move the balance and the pallets
of the axis or verge, one to be
circular, concave, and convex." He
died in 1716.
Betts. — Fig. 407 shows a watch
by Samuel Betts remarkable for its
particularly handsome dial of silver
and brass. The central leaf orna-
ment of silver polished is partly filled
in with crimson enamel or hard wax,
the pretty effect of which is enhanced
by a dull matted surface between it
and the hour band, which is also of
silver. On a nicely chased revolving
brass ring outside the hours is a
fleur-de-lys to indicate the day of the
month on a fixed silver band, divided
into thirty-one and figured as shown.
An outer chased margin of brass completes the arrangement. At
the end of the short months the day of the month ring has to
be moved by hand. The boss of the hour indicator is oval, and
although but one limb now exists, there was probably a trident tail, as
may be seen on other specimens of the period. The case is of silver
with a hit-and-miss shutter over the winding hole ; the glass is nearly
one third of a sphere and exceedingly thick. Betts carried on busi-
ness at the back of the Royal Exchange, and appears to have died
prior to 1673, when "Mr. Marquet" (Markwick?) advertises himself
in the London Gazette as the successor of " Mr. Samuel Betts, deceased,"
In 1656 Betts attested the genuineness of Jas. Lello's masterpiece to the
Clockmakers' Company. The watch here shown dates from about 1 645.
Fig. 407.-
-Watch by Samuel Betts,
about 1640.
Records of Early Makers, etc.
269
Tompion and Graham. — Thomas Tompion, "the father of
Enghsh watchmaking," was born at Northhill, Bedfordshire, in 1638.
It is said that his father was a farrier, and that he was brought up
to the same trade ; but the first reHable record shows him to have
been in business as a clockmaker at Water Lane, Blackfriars, when
quite a young man.
Water Lane was a long, tortuous thoroughfare, the western
Fig. 40S. — Thomas Tompion, 163S — 1713.
portion of which is now Whitefriars Street, and Tompion's shop,
known by the sign of the Dial and Three Crowns, was at the Fleet
Street corner where the offices of the Daily News are. His advent
marks a distinct epoch in the history of the horological art.
Throughout his career he was closely associated with some of the
leading mathematicians and philosophers of his time. The theories
of Dr. Hooke and the Rev. Edward Barlow would probably have
270
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
remained in abeyance but for Tompion's skilful materialization of
them. He soon became the leading watchmaker at the court of
Charles II., and Avas everywhere welcomed as an artist of command-
ing ability. When he entered the arena the performance of time-
keepers was very indifferent. The principles on which they were
constructed were defective, and the mechanism was not well
proportioned. The movements were as a rule regarded as quite
subsidiary to the exterior cases,
and English specimens of the
art had no distinctive individu-
ality. By adopting the inven-
tions of Hooke and Barlow, and
by skilful proportion of parts, he
left English watches and clocks
the finest in the world and the
admiration of his brother artists.
Of course he did not reach
finality ; improvements continued
under his immediate successors.
Indeed, some of the most remark-
able and progressive horological
conceptions emanated from the
mind of his favourite pupil,
Ciraham, whom he inspired, and
who continued the work which
Tompion began. Of the few
horologists of Tompion's time
who can be admitted as his peers,
Daniel Ouare was perhaps the
most notable example. Asa clock-
maker Joseph Knibb may perhaps
be admitted to rank with these.
x\mong others above medio-
crity who made watches before and after the introduction of the
balance spring, Nathaniel Barrow is worthy of mention.
Tompion was primarily a clockmaker; in the records of the Clock-
makers' Company he is referred to as a "great clockmaker"
when he was associated as a brother in 1671 ; and it is doubtful if
he made watches in the early part of his career. I have never met
with a specimen not furnished with a balance spring, and those with
but an hour hand are exceedingly are.
Fig. 409.
Records of Early Makers, etc.
271
The portrait on page 269 is from mezzotint produced in 1697
after a painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller.
One of Tompion's earlier clocks, which belongs to Mr. Norman
Shaw, is shown in Fig. 409. It has a light pendulum six inches in
length fixed to the verge ; the escapement for the alarum is behind
the going train, and wlien the alarum is let off the hannner strikes
the bell which forms the domical top of the clock. In the British
Museum is another chamber clock by Tompion, as well as a very
thick watch by the master in a case superbly painted in enamel by
Fig.
410.
-Watch by Tompion in gold
cases.
Fig. 4 II. —Tompion watch in sil\ei" inner
case ; out case, tortoiseshell.
Camille Andre. In the same repository is a curious universal pocket
sun-dial with compass, all of gold, also by Tompion.
In 1675, he made for Charles II. a watch with two balances and
balance springs as devised by Hooke. Derham says, " This watch
was wonderfully approved of by the King ; and so the invention
grew into reputation and was much talked of at home and abroad.
Particularly its fame flew into France, from whence the Dauphin
sent for two, which that eminent artist Mr. Tompion made for him.''
The introduction of the balance spring involved a reconstruction
of the watch movement. The disc or dial for indicating the adjust-
ment of the mainspring was discarded as no longer necessary, and a
somew^hat similar one introduced for showing the movement of the
curb pins round the balance spring. This disc was placed upon a
272
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
pinion with a squared extremity for the reception of a watch key to
actuate the curb pins, which were carried by a toothed segment or
circular rack gearing with the pinion. The tangent wheel and screw
for mainspring adjustment were placed beneath the plates. The
balance was considerably enlarged and covered with a circular cock.
In Tompion's early watches there is a kind of bevelled fringe around
the edge of the cock for the more effectual protection of the balance,
as in Fig. 413, but after 1688 or 1690 he adopted the now well-
known form with a broad base curved to suit the edge of the plate,
a circular table the same size as the balance, and just where the
table narrows to join the base a cherub's head or a grotesque mask
engraved between projecting ears or streamers.
Fig. 412.
Fk
413-
His watch movements were deep, top plates exceedingly thin, and
near the edge was usually engraved, " Tho. Tompion, London."
He was, I believe, the first manufacturer to number his watch
movements consecutively in plain figures for the purpose of identifi-
cation. His early ones were not so marked, and I should judge he
commenced the practice about 1685.
Fig. 410 shows a watch by him in plain gold cases, bearing the
hall mark corresponding to 1685 ; the dial is of gold with raised
numerals. The hands are very fine, the hour indicator being of the
tulip pattern. A watch with silver dial, about ten years later, from
the Hilton Price collection, is shown in Fig. 411.
As an example of the versatility of Tompion's genius is appended
a drawing of a watch from the collection of Mr. Evan Roberts. The
distinctive feature of this watch is that, although a verge escapement
is used, the fusee has been discarded ; the mainspring being sur-
rounded by a handsomely pierced guard which is fixed to the plate ;
and to this the outer end of the mainspring is attached. In order
Records of Early Makers, etc.
73
Fig. 414.
that tlie watch nii<j^ht have a coil of mainsprinj^ of the largest
possible dimensions, what is .usually the centre wheel is planted out of
the centre ; the cannon pinion rides loose on a stud planted in the
centre of the frame ; and to get the proper
motion for the minute-hand without the intro-
duction of an intermediate wheel in the motion
work, the train rotates reversely to the usual
direction. The movement is not numbered ;
this fact, together with the style of the
engraving and the form of the balance cock, enables one to fix the
date of its production at about 1680.
Before September, 1695, Tompion produced a watcli in which the
teeth of the horizontal escape wheel dropped on to the cylindrical
body of the verge, as shown in the
appended drawing, thus avoiding the
recoil incidental to the usual verge con-
struction; and in September, 1695, he,
in conjunction with Booth and Hough-
ton, patented the cylinder escapement.
In the account of Barlow the wording
of the description is given.
One of the boldest of Tompion's
conceptions was a small clock to strike
the hours and quarters, driven by main-
springs and yet requiring to be wound
but once a year. The successful em-
bodiment of this is show'n in Fig. 415.
The clock was made for William III.
at a cost of £i,^co, and was in his
bedroom at Kensington Palace when
he died. It was left by him to the
Earl of Leicester, and now belongs to
Lord Mostyn, in whose family it has
been for over 150 years. It is still in
going order, and Lord Mostyn has the
name of nearly everyone who has wound
it during the last 100 years.
The total height to the top of the
spear is thirty inches ; the body or
plinth below the dial is ten inches in width, seven inches in height,
and six inches from front to back.
Fig. 415. — One year clock by
Tompion.
274 ^^'■^ Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
The case, of ebony with silver mounts, is a fine piece of work in
one piece, forming really a hood or cover, for it slides down over the
movement and rests on the metal feet.
The movement is in three portions ; the lower part below the dial
Fig. 416. — Travelling striking and jilarum watch by Tompion, actual size.
is attached to the heavy scroll feet, and contains the two mainspring
barrels, the two fusees and the larger driving wheels. The middle
portion behind the dial contains the smaller wheels and pinions ;
while the verge escapement above is held separately, so that it may
be easily detached. The pendulum, six inches long, is in front of the
Records of Early Makers, etc.
275
movement just behind the dial,. and its action may be seen through
the glazed door below the dial, which is removed when winding or
regulation is needed. Regulation is effected by raising or lowering
Fig. 417. — Travelling striking and alarum watch by Tompion, actual size.
the chops which embrace the pendulum spring, very much in the
way adopted for modern clocks ; the sliding chops are actuated by a
tangent wheel and screw, and there is on the front plate a micrometer
index for noting the amount of adjustment made.
T 2
276 Old Clocks and Watches and tlieir Makers.
The hours are struck on a bell attached to the front plate, the
ting-tang quarters being sounded on this and on a smaller bell,
which surmounts the movement. On each side of the case is a
pull-repeating arrangement.
The splendid travelling clock-watch, of which two views are given
in Figs. 416 and 417, is in the Hilton Price collection, and dates
from about 1695. The case and dial are of silver.
During the building of St. Paul's, it was frequently reported that
Tompion was to construct a wonderful clock for the cathedral ; and
in " The Affairs of the World," published in October, 1700, the follow-
ing announcement appeared : " Mr. Tompion, the famous watch-
maker in Fleet Street, is making a clock for St. Paul's Cathedral,
which it is said will go one hundred years without winding up ; will
cost ^3,000 or ^"4,000, and be far finer than the clock at Strasburg."
Though this statement seems to have been unwarranted, it is quite
possible he would have been entrusted with the construction of a
timekeeper of some kind, but, after unremitting application to his
profession for more than thirty years, he was at this time, it may be
assumed, just beginning to indulge in well-earned leisure; during the
last years of his life he allowed himself considerable relaxation, and
was absent from London for extended periods. In the course of his
migrations he visited Bath, possibly to derive benefit from the healing
properties of the hot mineral water which wells up in the Queen of
the West, as the chief Somersetshire city is called. In the Grand
Pump-room there is a splendid example of Tompion's later work,
which he presented to the city, as is thus recorded on a tablet
adjacent to the timekeeper : " The Watch and Sun-dial was given
by Mr. Thos. Tompion, of London, Clockmaker. Anno Dom. 1709."
In Fig. 418, which is taken from a photograph by Mr. Ernest Lambert,
I am enabled to give an engraving of this stately timekeeper.
Mr. Olds has kindly furnished some description of the movement. The
dial is of brass, with ornamental corner pieces and silvered rings,
the minute circle being fifteen inches in diameter ; the day of the
month is shown through an aperture. On a high arch above is an
equation index and scale, o being in the centre, and the variation to
a maximum of fifteen minutes shown on each side ; on the right,
" Sun faster," and to the left, " Sun slower." The months and days
are engraved on a silvered ten-inch circle, of which an arc is shown
through an opening. The date is indicated by a small point in the
centre of the opening. The number of minutes shown by the index
gives the difference between sun time and mean time ; this ten-inch
Records, of Early Makcn;, etc.
277
circle has o\er 2,000 finely cut teetli, and makes its annual circuit by
means of an endless screw and pinion, worked from the dial wheel,
which makes one revolution per hour.
The index is kept in position by a small
counterpoise with a pulley fitted to its
arbor ; the pulley is attached by a fine
chain to a cranked arm, which rises and
falls with the indentations and protube-
rances of a properly shaped plate or cam
attached securely to the ten-inch circle.
The train and frame of the timepiece
are in remarkably good order, considering
its age. The driving- power is a lead
weight of 32 lbs. hung on a 3-inch
pulley, having a fall of six feet. It is
wound monthly on to a 2j-inch barrel ;
the great wheel of 94 teeth, and 4^ inches
in diameter, dri\es a pinion of 16 leaves ;
thereon is a 3-inch wheel of 80 teeth, and
this drives the centre pinion of 10 teeth ;
the centre wheel is 2^ inches of 72 teeth,
driving the third pinion of nine teeth ;
on this is a 2|-inch wheel of 60 teeth,
driving the escape, pinion of eight teeth ;
on this is a 2-inch escape wheel of 30
teeth, shaped as in a recoiling escapement.
The pallet staff is 2^ inches above the
escape arbor, and carries pallets of the
anchor pattern, having inclined planes
to allow recoil. The one-second pen-
dulum rod is of steel, of a flattened oval
section, with 6-inch bob of lenticular form.
The amount of oscillation, being only
2f°, causes the recoil of the escapement ^1
to be barely apparent.
The day of the month circle is moved
by an extra wheel from the hour wheel.
Maintaining power while winding is given
by a spring-propelled click through a steel arm on an arbor between
the plates, acting on the teeth of the centre wheel, which is put into
action by lifting the sliding cover of the winder hole in the dial.
Fig. 418. — Clock by Tompion
at the Pump-room, Bath.
278 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
The case is of solid unpolished oak, nine feet high to the top of the
arched head which is surmounted by brass ball ornaments. The
body of the case is seventeen inches wide and about six inches
narrower than the head and base, with a semi-circular door eight
inches across and five feet in length. As will be seen from the
drawing, the case has much the appearance of a pillar rising from a
substantial base.
The clock is in a recess at the eastern end of the room, and it
occupied a similar position in the old Pump-room, the erection of
which was finished in 1706. As the spot is particularly suited for
the reception of a clock, it may be conjectured that Tompion was
in Bath when the old Pump-room was being built, and that the
ever-vigilant " Beau " Nash obtained from him a promise to present
a timepiece when the building was completed.
At first sight the phrase " watch and sun-dial " on the tablet
recording the gift seems to include a gnomon of some sort for
regulating the timekeeper from observations of the sun. There
would be nothing far-fetched in this surmise, because sun-dials to
check the going of public timekeepers were not at all an unusual
adjunct. But I am inclined to think that in this instance sun-dial
meant the equation dial over the ordinary one.
Fig. 419 shows another example of Tompion's work, which is
almost a facsimile of the Bath clock. It belongs to Mr. Philip T.
God sal, of Iscoyd Park, Whitchurch, Shropshire.
A long case chiming clock by Tompion to go a month between
windings which is at Windsor Castle is shown in Fig. 624, and at
Buckingham Palace is a very similar one. At the Guildhall Museum
is a Tompion clock with a square dial, one hand, and in a long black
case, which may be accepted as an indubitable example of his early
work. In the same collection is a more modern specimen which goes
four months between windings, has an arch dial, and maintaining
work similar to that in the Bath Pump-room clock. It is inscribed
" Thomas Tompion, London," a form of signature rather unusual.
In the Wetherfield collection are no fewer than eighteen Tompion
clocks. Some of these and others I propose to illustrate in
Chapter VII.
The Royal Society possesses a paper in Hooke's handwriting,
imperfect and undated, showing that Tompion and Hooke were in
communication on the subject of the barometer, which is of interest
as evidence of the estimation in which Tompion was held by Hooke.
It occurs about the middle of a parchment-bound volume lettered
Rt'cords oj Early Makers, etc.
270
Fig. 419.
28o Old Clocks and WatcJics and their Makers.
" 20 Hooke's Papers," and is headed " Aerostatick Instruments."
In it Hooke states that a form of his barometer, in which the height
of the mercury was indicated by a column of water, " was tryed at
Mr. Thomas Tompion's, a person deservedly famous for his excellent
skill in making watches and clocks, and not less curious and
dexterous in constructing and handworking of other nice mechanical
instruments." A barometer by Tompion is at Hampton Court Palace.
The extent of Tompion's business may be judged from the fact
that in the advertisements for the recovery of lost watches during
the period he was in business timekeepers of his make largely
preponderate. Trivial though some of them may be, I venture to
submit a selection from these announcements, as the quaint
descriptions in the words of the owners are interesting and convey
a very good idea of the various styles in favour at the time : —
" Lost on Wednesday 20th of this Instant September at night in
or about St. James's, a Gold Pendulum watch of Mr. Tompion's-
making, having three motions a shagreen case, a cipher on the Back
Side and marked within the Box 277, with a Gold Chain and three
seals viz. one Figure and two Heads. Whoever give notice thereof
to Mr. Nott a Bookseller in Pall Mall or to Mr. Loman at the Lord
Cavendish's House in St. James's Square shall have 13 Guineas
Reward" (London Gazette, September 22, 1682).
" Lost on Monday the 25th Instant in the Fields betwixt Islington
Church and Newington Green, a gold watch with a Shagreen Case,
with a cipher studded in gold on the Bottom. Made by Thos.
Tompion, London. Whoever brings the said watch to Mr. Robert
Halstead, Goldsmith at the Crown in Fleet St. shall have three
Guineas Reward" (London Gazette, January 25, 1685-6).
" Lost out of a gentleman's Pocket, the 19th past, betwixt Lyme
St. end in Fenchurch St. and the end of the Minories, an indifferent
small size gold pendulum watch, going without string or chain,
showing the hours of the day, and day of the month, the name
Tompion, in a shagreen case, pinned with a Cypher in the bottom of
the case, wound up on the dial plate, at the hour of 12, a straight key
with a Steel Nose. Whoever brings it to Mr. Tompion, Clockmaker,
at Water Lane, and in Fleet St., shall have one guinea reward, or, if
bought, their money again with reasonable profit " (London Gazette,
November 10-13, 1690).
" Lost, the 3rd inst., between the Sun-Dial, in St. James Park, and
Man's Coffee House, a silver Minute Pendulum watch, made by
Tho. Tompion, in a Shagreen studded case, on the bottom of the
Rccoych of luirly Makers, etc. 281
inner case the number 43<S ; with a j^old Rin<^ hani^ing upon the
silver chain, with the Effigies of their Present Majesties " (London
Gazette, March 3-7, i6gi).
" Lost on the 24th instant, about Kingston-on-Thames, a Gold
Minute and Second Chain Pendulum watch, with a Stop, the hours
seen through a hole in the Dial plate, and in a plain Shagreen Out-
Case, the name Tho. Tompion, London, a number in the bottom of
the Box, 0201. Whoever gives notice of it to Mr. Tho. Tompion,
Clockmaker, at the corner of Water Lane, in Fleet St., shall have
3 guineas reward ; or if bought already, your money again with
reasonable profit " {London Gazette, June 25-29, i6gi).
" Lost on the 23rd instant a Gold Pendulum Watch made by Tlios.
Tompion, Fleet Street, in a Shagreen Studded Case with a Steel
Seal set in gold tied to it, bearing a Coat quartered with the arms
of the Crown battoned ; the Box numbered 422 and the maker's
mark [II] " (London Gazette, July 23-27, i6gi).
" Lost on the 21st instant, from the Duke of Richmond's in
St. James's Square, a gold striking watch with a Shagreen case
studded round, with little holes between, having 3 links of plain gold
chain, made by Thos. Tompion, in Fleet St. Whoever brings it to
Mr. Compton, Goldsmith, in Duke St., near Lincoln's Inn Fields,
shall have 6 Guineas" {London Gazette, February 21-23, ^694).
" Lost, some time in November last, at Oxon, a Gold Minute
Pendulum watch in a plain gold case ; the names on the upper
peak, Tho. Tompion, Edwd. Banger, London ; and on the Dial
Plate, Tompion, Banger, London, with this number, 3428, on the
bottom of the Box within side, and likewise upon the upper plate.
Whoever give notice of it (so as it may be had again) to the
Reverend Dr. King, of Christ Church College, at Oxon, or to Tho.
Tompion, Clockmaker, at the Dial and Three Crowns, at the Corner
of Water Lane, Fleet St., London, shall have three guineas reward ;
or if bought or pawned, your money again with reasonable profit "
{London Gazette, December 4-7, 1704).
Tompion was associated as a brother of the Clockmakers' Company
in 1671 ; admitted as a freeman by redemption in 1674; chosen as
assistant in i6gi, as warden in 1700, and master in 1704. He died
on the 2oth November, 1713, and was buried in W'estminster Abbey.
In the same grave were interred the remains of Graham, and
particulars of their tomb had therefore better be left till after the
brief notice of Graham which follows.
Little is known of Tompion's domestic life, but he appears to have
282 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
been unmarried. His will, executed on the 21st October, 171 3,
was proved on the 27th November, in the same year, by George
Graham, who was one of the executors. By this document he
bequeathed to his nephew Thomas Tompion, son of his brother
James, his land and property at Northhill, Bedfordshire, and the
interest on ;^ioo. To his niece Margaret Banger, wife of Edward
Banger, clockmaker, and daughter of his late sister, Margaret Kent,
he gave a life interest in ;^5oo, which at her death was to revert to
Elizabeth Graham, wife of George Graham, daughter of his said
brother James. Another daughter of his sister Elizabeth Kent is
mentioned, and a cousin, Thomas Finch. George Graham and his
wife were residuary legatees. Tho. Tompion, junr., was apprenticed
to Charles Kemp in 1694 ^^^ admitted as a member to the Clock-
makers' Company in 1702, presumably when he had completed his
apprenticeship. A " Mr. Tompion, watchmaker," attended the
funeral of Daniel Quare, in 1724. Watches by Tho. Tompion, junr.,
are to be met with occasionally, and I have examined two or
three inscribed " Tho. Tompion, Edw. Banger, London." Edward
Banger was apprenticed to the Tompion in 1695, and it may there-
fore be fairly assumed that he was in partnership with Tompion
junr. At Buckingham Palace is a one year clock inscribed
" T. Tompion, Edwd. Banger, London." In the Wetherfield col-
lection is a long case clock, with an oval label just below the centre
of the dial, on which is engraved " Tho. Tompion and Edw. Banger,
London." I saw a watch for sale but a few months ago inscribed
" Tompion, London," the hall mark in the case of which corre-
sponded to the year 1745. But Tompion bequeathed his business to
Graham, who, it is pretty certain, secured the best of the trade on
the demise of his patron and friend.
George Graham. — George Graham, " Honest George Graham,"
who was born at Kirklinton, or Rigg, Cumberland, in 1673, tramped
to London at an early age, and in 1688 became apprenticed for seven
years to Henry Aske. He w^as admitted a freeman of the Clock-
makers' Company on completing his indentures in 1695, ^^^
immediately entered the service of Thomas Tompion, thus beginning
a life-long friendship, severed only by the death of Tompion in 1713.
The following announcement appeared in the London Gazette for
November 28th to December ist, 1713 : " George Graham, Nephew of
the late Mr.Thomas Tompion, who lived with him upwards of seventeen
years, and managed his trade for several years past, whose name
was joined with Mr. Tompion's for some time before his death, and
Records of Early Makers, etc. 283
to whom he left all his stock and work, finished and unfinished,
continues to carry on the said trade at the late Dwelling House of
the said Mr. Tompion, at the sign of the Dial and Three Crowns, at
the corner of Water Lane, in Fleet Street, London, where all persons
may be accommodated as formerly."
In 1720 Graham relinquished Tompion's old premises, as will be
seen by the appended official notification from the London Gazette
of March 22-26, 1720: "George Graham, watchmaker, is removed
from the corner of Water Lane, in Fleet Street, to the Dial and
One Crown on the other side of the way, a little nearer Fleet
Bridge, a new house next door to the Globe and Duke of Marl-
borough's Head Tavern." Here in tlie rooms over the shop Graham
resided till his decease. The quaint little shop had two plain bowed
windows, with the doorway between them, and with but little altera-
tion in appearance remained as a watchmaker's for many years,
being occupied first by Mudge, who succeeded Graham, then by
Mudge and Dutton, and afterwards by the younger Duttons. It is
No. 148, and now the ofiices of the Sporting Life. Graham was
elected as a member of the Royal Society in 1720, and was chosen
as a member of the council of that body in 1722. He contributed
twenty-one papers on various subjects to the " Philosophical
Transactions."
After the expiration of Booth, Houghton, and Tompion's patent,
Graham devoted some thought to the cylinder escapement, which
in 1725 he modified to practically its present form, and introduced
into some of his w^atches. Securing to himself the monopoly of any
of his discoveries was foreign to his disposition. The reputation
which English horology acquired on the Continent during the
eighteenth century was due in no small measure to Graham's candid
treatment of his brethren in the art in other countries. In answer
to inquiries, Julien Le Roy received from Graham one of his
cylinder escapement watches in 17 28, and the French horologist's
generous avowal of its superiority is worthy of his acknowledged
greatness. But it must be admitted, after examination of surviving
specimens, that the wheel teeth in Graham's cylinder escapement
had too much shake in the cylinder, and were wanting in the
necessary closeness of construction afterwards attained by Ellicott
and others ; and as Ciraham continued to use the verge escapement
till his death, it may be assumed that he was not oblivious of the
constructional difficulties presented by the cylinder. In his younger
days he would undoubtedly have pursued the matter with his usual
284
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
acumen and patience, till nothing was left for later artists to improve ;
but now his mind was taken up with astronomy and astronomical
instruments, and the production of a perfect clock as an aid to the
astronomer absorbed him, as I venture to suggest, almost to the
exclusion of horological instruments for the pocket.
In all Graham's work his first consideration was to make every
part most suitable for its purpose. Judicious embellishment in its
proper place was not wanting, but it was quite subsidiary to useful-
ness. This trait is apparent in many little details of a splendid
repeating watch shown in Figs. 420 and 421, made by him in 17 14,
when he was in the zenith of his power as
a watchmaker, which belongs to Mr. Paul
E. Schweder. Thus the pillars are of a
Fig. 420.
Fig. 421. — Back of outer cover.
plain cylindrical form with turned bases and caps, whereas Tompion
before and Ellicott, Mudge, and other distinguished horologists after
him, were lavish in shaping, decorating, and piercing these passive
items, w^hose characteristic of strength and holding power was
certainly not less apparent by Graham's more simple treatment. A
little addition I have not noticed in the watches of any other maker
is a light spring jumper or click on the under-side of the cap, for
securely locking the cap spring. It has a fine enamelled dial and
jewelled balance cock. The piercing of both the gold cases and the
repousse chasing of the outer one are perfect. On the movement and
on both cases is the number 445. On the back of the inner case are
Records of Early Makers, etc.
285
the letters M.P. arranged as a monogram. The lock spring is
beyond the edge of the dial.
Attached to this repeater is also a useful little adjunct which
appears to have been invented by Graham, and, though not much
seen in English work, became very popular with French makers.
Projecting from the case is a small nib, or "pulse piece," called by
l-'iG. 422. — George Graham, 1673 — 1751.
the French sourdine, or " deaf piece," which upon being pressed keeps
the hammer off the bell and receives each blow. It not only enables
those who have defective hearing or sight to ascertain the time by
touch, but persons whose organs are perfect, who may desire to
know the hour at night without disturbing an adjacent sleeper, can
do so by pressing the pulse piece and counting the beats.
Graham used stout proportionate-looking bows for his watch cases
in place of the thin wiry lings previously in vogue, but by a curious
286
Old Clocks mid Watches and their Makers.
obliquity Ellicott seems to have reverted to the former style. The
difference in the two " handles " is very marked in specimens of the
two makers I have before me.
With the introduction of the pendulum, and more exact workman-
ship and consequent improvement in the performance of timekeepers,
^ the errors arising from expansion and contraction of metals
in varying temperatures became manifest. Graham there-
fore turned his attention to the best means of preventing
irregularity in the going of clocks when exposed to thermal
changes, and invented the mercurial pendulum. His paper,
communicated to the Royal Society in 1726, on "A Con-
trivance to avoid Irregularities in a Clock's Motion by
the Action of Heat and Cold upon the Pendulum," demon-
strated the suitability of mercury as a compensating
medium after observations extending over a lengthened
period.
The form of Graham's mercurial pendulum is shown
in the sketch. Fig. 423. a is the rod, h the stirrup contain-
ing the glass jar of mercury, 0. For regulating the time,
Graham employed a sliding weight, d, upon the rod.
Another of Graham's inventions applicable to clocks of
precision, and which is still unsurpassed in the opinion
of many leading horologists, is the dead-beat escapement.
In the ^^'etherfleld collection is a month regulator
timepiece by him which has a dead-beat escapement with
jewelled pallets, a gridiron pendulum, bolt and shutter
maintaining power, and is in a mahogany case.
An elegant bracket clock by him, dating from about
1740, is in the possession of Mr. J. Rutherford, Jardington,
Dumfries, to whom I am indebted for the annexed repre-
sentation of it. The case of oak measures 15I inches in
height, and the dial 8^ inches by 4I inches. On the back
plate is engraved a Cupid surrounded by scroll work.
The regulator hand on the right of the dial raises or
lowers the pendulum through the intervention of a snail-shaped
Fig.
423-
Graham's mode of living was distinguished by its simplicity. As
already stated, his later years were chiefly occupied with astro-
nomical work, which he carried on as the valued coadjutor of
Halley and Bradley till his death, which occurred in November,
1 75 1. By his will, executed in 1747, he left to his wife one-half of
Records of Early Makers, etc. 287
his personal estate. He also bequeathed £20 to the Clockmakers'
Company, of which he was made free in 171 5, and after filling the
subordinate offices served as master in 1722-3. The grave of
Fig. 424.
Tompion, in Westminster Abbey, was opened to receive his pupil,
and the exceptional honour of their interment in that place is the
best testimony that can be adduced as to the estimation in which
these eminent horologists were held. Appended is a reduced facsimile
288 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
of the stone placed to mark their resting-place by an appreciative
nation.
HERE LIES THE BODY
OF M^ Tho Tompion
Who DEPARTED THIS
LIFE THE 20™ OF
NOVEMBER 1713 IN THE
75'^" YEAR OF HIS AGE
also the body of
George Graham of London
Watchmaker and F.R.S.
whose curious inventions
do honour to y british genius
WHOSE Accurate Performances
ARE Y Standard of Mechanic Skill
HE died y x\t of November mdccli
IN THE LXXVIII YEAR OF HIS AGE
In 1838 this slab was removed, and small lozenge-shaped stones,
with the name and date, as in the sketch on p. 289, were substituted.
In a little work, " Time and Timekeepers," published in 1842, Adam
Thomson, a Bond Street watchmaker, wrote : " Who would suppose
that a small lozenge-shaped bit of marble is all that is left to indicate
where lie the bodies of the ' Father of Clockmakers,' Thomas
Tompion, and honest George Graham, greater benefactors to man-
kind than thousands whose sculptured urns impudently emblazon
merits that never existed ? " To this outspoken, indignant protest,
and the good feeling of the late Dean Stanley, is due the reinstate-
ment of the original memorial, for which English horologists will be
Records of Early Makers, etc.
•8g
ever grateful. " The passage was pointed out to me by a friend,"
said the Dean, " in consequence of the strong irritation expressed on
the subject by an obscure watchmaker in a provincial town. The
gravestone had not been destroyed, and was restored in 1866." Let
us hope future generations of clock and watchmakers will jealously
guard this tribute to the work of their fellow craftsmen against any
further attempt at desecration.
Fig. 425.
li
W
Fig. 426
The position of the tomb is marked by the two parallel lines on
the accompanying plan of the Abbey Church (Fig. 426). E is the altar
floor; W, the nave and western entrance; N, north transept; S,
south transept and Poets' Corner.
Daniel Quare. — This worthy contemporary of Tompion was
born in 1648. I had a clock- watch by him, inscribed "Daniel
Ouare, St. Martin's le Grand, London." From its construction, one
could with tolerable certainty decide that it was made about 1676,
and I am therefore inchned to think St. Martin's le Grand was his
first business address. It is said he afterwards carried on business
at the " Plow and Harrow," in Cornhill, but all the authentic records
I have been able to consult refer to him from 1680 to the time of his
death as of the " King's Arms," Exchange i\lley.
About 1680 he produced repeating watches of his own design, and
when the Rev. Edward Barlow, in 1687, made application to patent
a repeating device, Quare successfully opposed the monopoly sought
for by his rival. In Quare's arrangement a single push on a pin
projecting from the case near the pendant sufficed to sound the hour
and the quarters, while Barlow's required a distinct action for each.
The king, after a trial of both repeating watches, gave the preference
c.w. u
2go Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
to that of Quare, which fact was notified in the Gazette, This watch
was, in 1823, in the possession of Mr. John Stanton, of Benwell, near
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, from whose description of it in the Morning
Chronicle the following is taken : " The outer case, of 22-carat gold,
is embossed with the king's head in a medallion. The dial is of gold,
with black Roman numerals for the hours and figures for the
minutes. In the centre is a piece of pierced work in gold upon blue
steel, representing the letters J.R. R.J. combined so as to appear like
an ornamental scroll, above which is the royal crown. The box is
pierced with scroll-work intermixed with birds and flowers. About
the joint is engraved a landscape. On the back of the box two
circular lines are drawn, between which is the following inscription :
^ James II. gloria Deo iu cxcelsis sine pretio redinii mini mala lege ablatum
bno. Regi restituitur.'' The watch is considerably thicker than, but
otherwise not much above, the common size."
Quare afterwards made another and more highly finished repeating
watch for William 111.; it appears probable that in this, as in all
subsequent repeaters by Quare, the pendant was thrust in to set the
mechanism in action, instead of having a separate pin in the edge of
the case for the purpose.
There is in the British Museum a small lantern alarum clock of
Quare's make, which has, above the bell, a perforated dome sur-
mounted by a handle for carrying. A fine bracket clock by him in
Windsor Castle is shown in Fig, 427, and a little clock, six inches in
height, illustrated in Fig. 428, is said to have been the favourite
timekeeper of W^illiam III., and was brought to England by him.
This also is at Windsor Castle. There are seven of Quare's clocks
in the Wetherfield collection ; some of these I shall be able to
illustrate in Chapter VII.
As splendid specimens of horological work of this period may be
mentioned one-year clocks, of which at least three or four bear Quare's
name. One of the most celebrated of these is at Hampton Court
Palace. The case is of oak veneered with burr walnut or some similar
wood, and, including a stand of gilt brass work, is 10 feet high, the
plinth being 22 inches, the waist 48 inches, the hood 24 ; the dome,
io| inches high, is surmounted by a gilt brass figure 12 inches high.
Four other well-modelled gilt figures occupy the corners of the hood,
as showm in Fig. 429, which is from a photograph lent to me by
Messrs. Gaydon, of Kingston. The dial plate is 16 by 14 inches,
and along the bottom of it are three subsidiary dials ; one shows the
rising and setting of the sun, the middle one has an index and a
Recoi'ds of Early Makers, etc.
291
scale for latitude ; the
index for the third is
removed, but it was
evidently for the purpose
of disconnecting certain
equation work, the circle
being engraved on one
side " Tempus appavcus "
and on the opposite
"■Tcinpiis (Cqiin/c." In iHjh
\'ulliainy substituted a
dead beat escapement and
a new pendulum for the
original ones, but until
1898 the clock had not
been going for some years.
In the Philosophical
Transactions for Novem-
ber and December, 1719,
is a paper by Joseph
Williamson, claiming the
invention of equation
mechanism for clocks,
and in it he mentions
havins: made for Mr.
Fig. 428.
Fig. 427.
Ouare, among other twelve-month
clocks, the one at Hampton Court,
which, by means of a cam moving in
a slit in a piece of brass at the top of
the pendulum spring, raised or lowered
the pendulum as required in order to
show apparent time. As this claim
appears to have remained unchallenged
it may be accepted. Doubtless the
reputation of many manufacturers
then, as in later years, was acquired
in great measure through the ingenuity
and excellent workmanship displayed
by the chamber masters and other
assistants whom they employed. Still
it would be idle to attempt, now, to
u 2
292
Old Clocks and IVatches and their Makers.
^i
•jLv
Q
apportion the merit ; the world-wide reputation of Ouare remains as
evidence of his individuahty. He is mentioned
in a comedy by Carlo Goldoni as the fore-
most of English horologists, then considered
the first in the world.
_^_ _ Thirty years ago one of Quare's twelve-
in J7j W^Sl <- »!tf- month clocks was in the possession of Mr.
fkmminmomn , ^1 S j_ H. Arkwriglit, of Hampton Court, near
Leominster, where it probably is still. Many
stories have been told of the structure of this
remarkable production, and in 1873 I obtained
the following very precise details concerning
it from Mr. Palmer, a clockmaker of Leomin-
ster. The hour hand, beautifully pierced, fits
tight on to the hour socket with a square ;
the minute hand is pinned on to a square with
a collet as usual ; it has a counterpoise, and
is not so elaborately pierced as the hour hand.
The dial is fourteen inches square, the centre
being matted and gilt ; the spandrels are also
gilt, but left plain to show up the silver
fretwork corner pieces. The hour circle is of
brass, silvered ; it is divided into minutes on
the outside and into quarters of hours on the
inside. The name "Dan Quare" is engraved
between the hour figures 7 and 6, and
"London" is engraved between the 6 and
the 5. On the dial plate just below the
figure 6, the name is again inscribed in full,
" Daniel Ouare, London." The numbers of
the teeth of the wheels in the train are as
follows : —
Great wheel ...
... 96 teeth.
First
... 96 ,,
pinion 12 leaves
Second
... 90 ,,
10 ,,
Centre ,,
... 60 ,,
10
Third ,,
... 56 ..
8 ,,
Swing
... 30 ,,
7 ..
Fig. 429.-Quare's twelve- The minute wheels have each thirty-six teeth,
month clock at Hampton well shaped and very regular ; the minute
^ °"^^- pinion has six leaves ; the hour wheel has
seventy-two teeth, and it is keyed on to the hoursocket. The
Records of Iiarly Makers, etc.
293
centre, third, and swin^^ wheels are very small and light, the
diameter of the last-named is | in. ; the pivots also are very small.
These tliree pinion arbors are an inch shorter than the other arbors
of tlie train, and are pi\'Oted into a small false plate whicli is pinned
by four small pillars on to the inside of the large pillar plate. The
collets on wliich these three wheels are mounted are either brazed
or driven on to the pinion arbors. The third and swing wheel
pinions are thickest at the collet, and taper oft" with a gentle curve
to the head of the pinion. The frame plates are 7 in. by 5 in.
Fig. 430. — Dial of clock by Daniel Quare, about 1705.
There are six pillars ; they are ri\eted into the back plate, and the
front plate is kept on by pins. The pallets are of the original anchor
form. The seconds pendulum has a lenticular bob, and altogether
weighs 2 lbs. i^ oz. It is suspended from the same cock that carries
the back pivot of the verge. The suspension spring is 2I in. long,
narrow, and very thin. There is no degree plate, but a brass finger
projecting from the base of the case is filed to an edge just below
the pendulum, and serves to estimate the vibration (which is about
1" on each side of zero), and also to set the clock in beat when fixing
it. The case is of oak, handsomely veneered with walnut.
294
Old Clocks and ]\'atchcs and their Makers.
The barrel has fourteen grooves. The clock weight and pulley
weigh 8 1 lbs. ; the fall is 4 ft. 6 in. ; the length of the weight and
pulley is i ft. 6 in., which, added to the fall, makes 6 ft., which is
the distance from the bottom of the clock case up to the seat board ;
the weight is hung by a double
line. The clock is still an ex-
cellent timekeeper. On casting
up the numbers of the train it
will be found to go 403 days,
4 hours, and 24 minutes.
Now, I cannot help thinking
this is a very extraordinary
achievement, for 81 lbs. x
4 ft. 6 in. to drive the clock
for more than thirteen months
seems almost incredible ; still I
believe the facts are as I have
stated them. There is no doubt
that everything was done that
was possible to economise the
force. The very small and light
swing wheel, the balanced
minute hand, and the small
shortened arbors with extra fine
pivots, all conduce to the end
m view.
A twelve- month timepiece
by Quare with an equation
movement, very similar to the
Hampton Court one, and in its
original condition, forms one of
the gems of the Wetherfield
collection. Of this I shall be
able to give an illustration in
Chapter VII.
x\t Marston House is a month-
FiG. 431.
clock by Quare, belonging to the Earl of Cork. Mr. C. F. Bell has
another, and in the Wetherfield collection are several calculated for
the same period. Ouare's dials were particularly good, as may be
judged from the specimen shown in Fig. 430, for which I am
indebted to Mr. H. Cook, of Newark.
Records of Early Makers, etc. 295
Fig. 431 shows a superb little bracket clock by Quare, which
belongs to Mr. J. W. Abbott. The extreme height of the clock is
12 in., and the depth of the bracket 5^ in. The clock case is covered
with tortoiseshell, and is 6^ in. wide. The handle, the feet, and the
bevel of the door are of silver.
By several writers Quare is credited witli the invention of the
concentric minute hand, but such indicators were in use long before
his time, the hour hand being driven from the great wheel, and the
minute hand from the centre arbor. Quare's improvement consisted
in devising mechanism so that the hour and minute hands should be
actuated together. The earliest form of this device is applied to the
clock-watch which has been already referred to. At first sight there
appears to be motion work of the kind now in general use, but an
important variation is apparent on examination. Both of the hands
are driven direct from the great wheel. A wheel and pinion corre-
sponding to the minute wheel and nut fit on to a squared arbor
projecting from the great wheel. The canon pinion runs loose on a
stud in the centre of the watch, and on it is placed the hour wheel
in the usual way. The wheel and pinion attached to the great
wheel are of brass, and to allow the hands to be set they fit friction
tight on to a steel boss which has a square hole to correspond with
the end of the great wheel arbor. Attached to the bottom face of the
canon pinion is a snail for releasing the striking work every hour.
Under the arrangement in vogue before Quare's time, by which each
hand was driven independently of the other, if the minute hand was
set forward or backward, the hour hand would cease to correspond
with it. As the canon pinion was mounted on a stud, there was no
necessity of having the second wheel of the train in the centre of the
movement, and so the going train was continued to one side of the
centre, leaving the other side for the striking work. The one advan-
tage of the present arrangement of motion work over Quare's is that
the minute hand now follows the motion of the centre pinion without
shake, but in Quare's plan the position of the n^inute hand was not
so absolute on account of the backlash of the motion wheels.
A watch by him with silver dial and outer case of red tortoiseshell
piqnc dating from about i6go, which is in the Hilton Price collection,
is shown in Figs. 432 and 433.
In 1695 Quare obtained a patent for a portable weather glass, and
six or seven instruments made by him according to his specification
are known to exist. One of them is in the United Service Institution ;
another, belonging to Mr. C. F. Bell, is by his favour shown in Fig. 434.
296 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
^ri
Fig. ^32.
T'G- 4J3-
Fig. 434. — Barometer
by Quare
Records of Juirly Makers, etc. 297
The case is of walnut ; three urns surmount the head, and two of
them when rotated move the pointers on the scale, which is of gilt
metal richly engraved. But the contrivance for which the patent
was granted consists of a pad to co\er the bottom of the tube. The
cistern is of ivory, and attached to the bottom of it is a brass nut,
through which a threaded rod passes ; on the lower extremity of the
rod is a knob, and tlie upper carries the pad. If the barometer is
turned upside down until the tube is full of quicksilver and the
screwed rod turned for the pad to block the tube, the instrument
may be carried about in any position.
Quare was admitted as a brother of the Clockmakers' Company in
1 67 1, and served as master in 1708. During the latter part of his
career he took into partnership Edward Horseman, who had been
apprenticed to him, and the business was carried on at the same
address under the title of Quare and Horseman.
Reproduction of a selection from the inquiries respecting Quare's
timekeepers may not be out of place. On page 222 is one which
refers to an attempt to indicate minutes with the hour hand by
-di\iding the circle into but six hours in order to obtain room for
the minute marks : —
" Lost, between Firle and Slioram Ferry, in Sussex, a gold watch,
made by D. Quare, in a black Shagreen Case with a Cypher J. C.
Whoever brings it to Mr. Shelley, Goldsmith, in Panton Street, near
the Haymarket, shall have 2 guineas reward" {London Gazette,
May 16, 1 691).
" Lost, April 25, a Gold IMinute Pendulum Clock, the name on
upper plate D. Quare, London, 726 engraven on it, and a Shagrine
case. Whoever gives notice of it to Daniel Quare, Clockmaker, at
the King's Arms in Exchange Alley, shall have 3 guineas reward ;
or if already bought, their money returned again with content "
{London Gazette, May 26, 1692).
" Lost, on the road between Hungerford and Marlborough, a
Gold Repeating Watch, made by Quare and Horseman, with an
old Gold Chain, and several seals hanging to it. Whosoever will
bring them to Mr. Horseman, at Mr. Quare's, in Exchange Alley,
shall have 20 guineas reward and no questions asked" {London
Gazette, August 9, 171 8).
" Lost, on the road between Newark and Tuxford, about 22 of June
last, a Gold Watch, made by Quare in London, No. 4448, double
cased and winds up on the dyal Plate. Whoever shall secure the
watch if offered for sale, or send it or notice of it to Mr. Andrew
2g8 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Drummond, Goldsmith, by Charing Cross, shall receive 5 guineas
reward" {London Gazette, July 8, 1732).
The books of the Society of Friends show that Daniel Ouare was
a trusted man among the Quakers, and that he at first refused the
office of Clockmaker to George I. because he objected to take the
oath of allegiance ; the difficulty respecting the taking of an oath
was, however, overcome, and freedom to enter the palace by the
back stairs accorded to him. " The Yeoman of the Guard," he said,
" lets me frequently go up without calling anybody for leave, as
otherwise he would tho' persons of quality." He had one son,
Jeremiah, who does not seem to have followed the craft, and three
daughters. At the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth with Silvanus
Bevan in 1715, among witnesses who signed the deed of settlement
was the Duchess of Marlborough. Daniel Quare died at Croydon
in 1724, and was buried in the Quakers' ground at Bunhill Fields,
Finsbury.
Fromanteel. — Fromanteel, also spelt " Fromantel," " Fromantil,"
and " Fromenteele." Ahasuerus Fromanteel pi'iinus, of Dutch extrac-
tion, was a maker of steeple clocks at East Smithfield. In 1630 he
was warned by the Blacksmiths' Company to bring in his certificate
of seven years' service as apprentice. \\'ith this he complied, and
was forthwith elected free of the company. On the incorporation of
the clockmakers, he joined them. In 1656 he became restive under
the somewhat inquisitorial proceedings of the court relating to his
apprentices and the antecedents of his workmen, and for a long
period in the history of the guild his name appears in petitions and
other documents, expressing disapproval of the management of the
company, or as being called to account for infraction of its rules,
some of which, it must be confessed, could not fail to be exasperating
to a man with an extensive business, as Fromanteel appears to
have had.
A second Ahasuerus Fromanteel appears on the list as free of the
Clockmakers' Company in 1655.
A third xVhasuerus Fromanteel was, in 1663, on completion of his
apprenticeship with Simon Bartram, admitted as a member of the
Clockmakers' Company.
In 1663 also, John Fromanteel, who had been apprenticed to
Thomas Loomes, was admitted to the freedom.
Then Abraham, son of Ahasuerus Fromanteel, was elected in 1680.
In 1658 proceedings were taken against Ahasuerus Fromanteel
and his son Louis for keeping more apprentices than the regulations
Records of Early Makers, etc.
299
of the company allowed, so tliat there was a fairly large family of the
Fromanteels in the clock trade at that period, and most of them
seem to have been connected in business.
Beyond their squabbles with the Clockmakers' Company, there is
a celebrity attaching to them as being the first to introduce the
pendulum into England, the
assumption being that one
of the family had seen or
heard of Huygens' clock in
Holland, and brought it over
to his relatives. Their claim
has been challenged on
behalf of Richard Harris ;
and it has also been asserted
that Dr. Hooke investigated
the properties of the pen-
dulum as a controller for
timekeepers before Huygens
applied it. However, there
is evidence that the claim of
the Fromanteels to its intro-
duction from Holland, if not
unanimously allowed, was
accepted pretty generally at
the time.
Under date November ist,
1660, Evelyn, in his Diary,
writes : " I w^ent with some
of my relations to Court to
show them his Maj""' cabinet
and closet of rarities . . .
Here I saw . . . amongst
the clocks one that showed
the rising and setting of the
sun in Y^ Zodig, the sunn
represented by a face and raies of gold upon an azure skie, observing
Y" diurnal and annual motion rising and setting behind, and landscape
of hills, the work of our famous Fromantel."
Again, under date April ist, 1661, Evelyn records that he "dined
with that great mathematician and \irtuoso, Mr. Zulichem (Huygens),
inventor of the pendule clock " ; and on May 8th, " I returned by
Fig. 435.
300
Old Clocks and ]\\itchcs and their Makers.
Fromantel's, the famous clockmaker, to see some pendules, Mr.
Zulichem being with us."
The subjoined Fig. 435 represents a clock by Fromanteel in the
possession of Mr. Percy Webster, which seems to agree somewhat
with the description of Evelyn. The signs of the zodiac are on a
rotating disc, and the
alcove above pro-
bably contained a
ball showing the
phases and age of
the moon.
Fig. 436 shows a
hanging clock in an
ebonised case, by
"A. Fromanteel,
London," of about
the same date, and
for which I am in-
debted to M r .
T h o ni a s W y a 1 1 .
The dial is of brass
Avith a silvered band
to contain the hour
numerals, which are
very small and
formed each within a
ring. The original
hand is missing.
There are three bells
and five hammers,
the hours and first,
second and third
quarters being
sounded. The
movement is well made, with three trains, the back plate in one
piece, the front arbors carried in three separate strips so that any
of the trains may be removed separately. The pillars are square,
and on one is engraved the name of the maker as quoted; the
plates are fastened by hooks which fit into slots cut in the pillars.
Below the moon are silvered rotating discs with figures on the
edges to indicate the ares of the lunar and the calendar months.
Records of Iiarly Makers, etc. joi
This was a long case clock when I saw it, but examination showed
that the lower part was a later addition. .Ml that was original of the
case is given in the engraving.
At the Guildhall Museum is a very well made clock by Ahasuerus
Fromanteel dating from about 1675. It has a bob pendulum ; dial
8 inches square, with matted centre and cherub head corners. It is
furnished with what is called the " bolt and shutter maintaining
power." In this device a shutter which obstructs the winding hole
has to he lifted before the key can be inserted, and this action causes
a spring or a weighted lever to impel the wheels during the operation
of winding, when the driving weight is inoperative.
The Commonwealth Mercury of Thursday, November 25th, 1658,
contains the following advertisement : —
" There is lately a way found out for making clocks that go exact
and keep equaller time than any now made without this regulator,
examined and pro\'ed before his Highness the Lord Proctor, by such
doctors whose knowledge and learning is without exception, and are
not subject to alter by change of weather, as others are, and may be
made to go a week, a month, or a year, with once winding up, as
well as those that are wound up e\ery day, and keep time as well,
and is very excellent for all house clocks that go either with springs
or weights ; and also steeple clocks that are most subject to change of
weather. Made by Ahasuerus Fromanteel, who made the first that
were in England. You may have them at his house on the Bank-
side, in Mosses Alley, Southwark, and at the sign of the Mere
Maid, in Lothbury, near Bartholomew Lane end, London.''
Mosses Alley, or Moses Alley, was a passage leading from the
northern end of Bankside, Southwark, to Maid Lane.
The Mermaid in Lothbury was for over a century a noted shop
for clocks. In 1650 Thomas Loomes, who was associated with the
eldest Fromanteel in his attacks on the government of the Clock-
makers' Company, and to whom John Fromanteel was apprenticed,
resided there, and, after the time of Loomes, it was occupied by
John Fromanteel. Mr. D. A. F. Wetherfield has a remarkably well
made long-case clock by him dating from 1676-80. It is shown in
Fig. 437. The dial is 10 inches square with cherub corners, and in
one line along the bottom is the inscription, ^'Johannes Fromanteel,
Londoni fecit y Around the hour circle every minute from i to 60
is numbered. The case is of walnut with small raised panels. The
frame is large, having tliree trains, viz. going, striking, and ting-tang.
The pendulum makes but 48 beats a minute and is therefore
302
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
unusually lon^
regulation is effected by means of a large milled
nut fixed above the pendulum cock, the
spring rising and falling between chops as
in many modern clocks. It has the bolt
and shutter maintaining power referred to
on page 301. The striking at the hour is
peculiar, there being four bells of different
notes, the shape of Chinese gongs, and four
hammers which are on one arbor and strike
a chord at each blow. The quarters are
sounded on two bells.
There are long-case clocks by John
Fromanteel at the Dutch Church, Austin
Friars, and at the Philadelphia Library.
Dr. Hooke. — Robert Hooke was born
at Freshwater, Isle of Wight, on July i8th,
1635. As a youth he resided with Dr.
Busby, head master of Westminster
School. He entered Christ Church College,
Oxford, in 1653, ^^^ there his genius soon
attracted the notice of Dr. Wallis, whom
he frequently assisted in his chemical
operations. Dr. Wallis introduced Hooke
to the Hon. Robert Boyle, who engaged him
as an assistant in the mechanical and philo-
sophical works he was then employed on.
Hooke took part in and wrote upon all
the scientific questions of his time. Sir
Isaac Newton styled him " The Con-
siderer." On the institution of the Royal
Society he became one of its fellows, was
afterwards entrusted with the care of its
Repository, and made Professor of Me-
chanics to that body. About the same
period he was elected Professor of Geometry
in Gresham College.
I have been unable to obtain any portrait
of Hooke, but will quote the following
„ description of him from Aubrey's " Lives
Fig. 437. ^ -^ . .
of Eminent Men " : " He is of middling
stature, somewhat crooked, pale-faced, and his face but little belowe,
Records of Early Makers, etc. 303
hut his head is lardge ; his eie is full and popping, and not quick ;
a grey eie. He has a delicate head of haire, browne, and of an excellent
nioist curie. He is and ever was very temperate and moderate in
dyet, &c. As he is of prodigious inventive head, so he is a person
of great vertue and goodness."
He discovered that the resilience of a spring is proportional to the
angle through which it has been wound, and propounded the whole
theory in the sentence, " Ut iensio sic vis," meaning that the force is
proportionate to the tension. He proposed to patent his discovery
in 1660, and, to quote his words, " Sir Robert Moray drew me up the
form of a patent, the principal part whereof, viz. the description of
the watch, is his own handwriting, which I have yet by me ; the
discouragement I met with in the progress of this affair made me
desist for that time."
Derham describes the earliest of Hooke's essays in this direction
as a " tender straight spring, one end whereof played backward and
forward with the ballance." It is stated that several watches were
made under Hooke's supervision at this period, and one of the first
to which the balance spring was applied he is said to have
presented to Dr. Wilkins, afterwards Bishop of Chester, about
1661.
It appears that Hooke then conceived it to be an advantage to
have two balances coupled together, and had two double balance
watches constructed. In the first, which had no balance spring, the
escape wheel was placed in the centre of the movement with its
teeth in a liorizontal plane. There are two verges standing
vertically on opposite sides of the wheel and connected with each
other by means of toothed wheels of equal size ; each verge had one
pallet and carried a balance at its upper end, one balance overlapping
the other.
In the second watch the verge escapement was arranged in the
ordinary way, the balance being mounted on a verge with two
pallets ; on the verge was also a toothed wheel which engaged with
another of the same size mounted on a stud, and the pipe of this
wheel carried the second balance ; the toothed wheels being of small
size, one balance was placed a little higher than the other and
overlapped it. Each balance was controlled by a balance spring.
However, Hooke turned his attention to other matters, and in
January, 1673, Huygens addressed a letter to Henry Oldenburg,
secretary of the Royal Society, in which he described as his
invention the application of a spring to control the balance in
304 Old Clocks and Watches and iliciv Makers.
watches. This aroused the wrath of Hooke, who accused Oldenburg
of having divulged the discovery in his correspondence with Huygens.
Hooke enlisted the interest of Charles II., and in a lecture, entitled
" Potentia Restitutiva," etc., said, " His Majesty was pleased to see
the experiment that made out this theory tried at Whitehall, as also
my spring watch."
In 1660, Hooke devised a pendulum timekeeper for ascertaining
the longitude at sea. This was tried in 1662, and he subsequently
proposed a compensation pendulum in the form of a rhomboid,
the outline being of steel and the long horizontal diagonal of brass.
This form, being wider than it was long, was considered to be
impracticable. Troughton afterwards constructed a pendulum in
which the rod was a series of small rhomboids arranged to compensate
on Hooke's plan.
Hooke devised the first wheel-cutting engine about 1670. Prior
to that time the operation of forming the teeth was tedious and
imperfect. Blanks for watch and clock wheels were placed in the
centre of a circular brass platform, having thereon concentric circles
and radial lines corresponding to the various numbers of teeth in
general use. An arm pivoted at the centre of the platform carried a
hard point at its other extremity, by which the positions of the
teeth were marked on the blanks. The spaces were then filed out.
Hooke contrived a circular file and made the platform movable so
that each part of the circumference of the wheel could be brought
within the action of the file or cutter.
Hooke also invented the anchor escapement for clocks about
1675. Among his conceptions for a marine timekeeper was one
with two balances geared together, the idea being to avoid the effect
of external motion. It is stated that this timekeeper had an
escapement resembling the duplex.
His investigations covered a very wide field of science, but his
restless disposition rarely allowed him to steadily pursue any subject
to a conclusion. No sooner was he satisfied of the feasibility of any
project, than he left it, thus allowing others to perfect his inventions.
On the death of Oldenburg, in 1677 ^^^ '^^'^^ appointed secretary to
the Royal Society, and, by an order of the Society, he was requested
to give a full description of all the instruments which he had contrived,
but ill health prevented him from performing it. During the last
year of his life he was almost helpless. He died at Gresham College,
March 3rd, 1703, and was buried at St. Helen's, Bishopsgate.
Christian Huygens. — This distinguished mathematician was
I^ccoi'ch of Itavly Makers, dc^
305
born at the Hague in 1629. Early in life he devoted his attention to
the principles on which timekeepers were constructed, and in 1657
presented to the States of Holland a clock controlled by a pendulum.
He seems to have acquired the additional cognomen of Zulichem
from the place of his birth, and is so referred to by Evelyn during
a short \isit he paid to England in 1661, as quoted in the account
of Fromanteel. In 1665 his reputation induced Louis XIV. to
invite him to Paris, in order to found a Royal Academy of Sciences
there, and in 1673 was published his folio work, " Horologium
Fig. 438.
Fig. 439.
Fig. 440.
Oscillatorium," etc., from which the appended drawings of his clock
are taken.
The upper part of the pendulum is a double cord hanging
between two cycloidal cheeks, to give a cycloidal path to the bob.
Fig. 439 gives a better idea of this device, which was no doubt of
advantage with the long arcs required by the verge escapement.
Another feature of Huygens' clock is the maintaining power.
P (Fig. 440) is the driving weight, supported by an endless cord,
passing over the pulley D attached to the great wheel, and also over
the pulley H, which is provided with ratchet teeth and pivoted to
the inside of the clock case. The cord m is pulled down to wind
the clock, and the ratchet wheel H then runs under its click. So
c.w. ^
3o6 Old Clocks and Watclics and their Makers.
that while winding, as in going, one-half of P minus one-half oi p is
driving the clock. The pulleys D and H are spiked to prevent
slipping of the cord.
This ingenious maintaining power is to be found in many
eighteenth century clocks. When applied to a clock with a
striking train, the pulley with the ratchet is attached to the great
wheel of the striking part, one weight thus serving to drive both
trains. A chain is preferable to a cord, owing to the dust which
accumulates in the clock through the wearing of the latter. The
drawback to the arrangement is that it is not suitable for clocks
going for more than thirty hours between windings. It is, however,
worth knowing that a thirty hour striking clock on this plan can be
readily converted to an eight day non-striker by simply disconnecting
the striking work.
Huygens devoted much attention to the production of a time-
keeper for ascertaining the longitude ; and finding the pendulum
too unstable at sea, he in 1674 constructed a marine timekeeper
controlled by a balance and balance spring. The balance, instead
of being on the verge, was on a separate staff", and driven by a wheel
and pinion, so as to vibrate through very long arcs ; and this
necessitated the use of a very long balance spring. Huygens
endeavoured to obtain a patent for the application of the balance
spring, but in this he was successfully opposed by the Abbe Hauteville,
who alleged a prior use of springs for the purpose. The marine
timekeeper was not a complete success, for Huygens found himself
baffled by the error in changes of temperature. He returned to
Holland in 1681 and died there in 1695.
An exceedingly well-made clock, exactly corresponding to Huygens'
drawing, which I saw some years ago, bore the inscription, " Johanne
Van Ceulin, fecit, Hagae," and had a very handsome gilt skeleton
dial, upheld by a figure of Time. This and many other watches and
clocks of that period by Van Ceulin suggest the possibility of
Huygens and Van Ceulin having been associated in Holland as were
Barlow and Tompion in England.
Nathaniel Barrow. — A watch by this maker, with a short train
and without a balance spring, is shown on page 214. Fig. 441
represents the exterior of a clock-watch with doubled pierced cases.
A view of the movement will be given further on.
Probably to get room for the striking work a most peculiar arrange-
ment of the going train is adopted ; the winding square of the fusee
arbor projects within the rim of the balance, which has three arms
Rccci'ds of Earlv Makers, etc.
307
clustered together in the form of u flcui'-dc-Us or trident head, so that
a vibration of over half a turn is possible before the balance arms
bank against the fusee arbor.
Knibb. — Three or four members of this family are known among
the seventeenth century clockmakers. Samuel Knibb was admitted
to the freedom of the Clockmakers' Company in 1663 ; Joseph Knibb
in 1670; Peter Knibb in 1677. In tlie Guildhall Museum is a verge
watch with curiously wrought pillars, made about i6go, by "John
Knibb at Oxon.," and among the Wetherfield collection are two
long case clocks, inscribed "John Knibb, London," one dating from
about 1690 and the other a little later.
Of these the most eminent maker was Joseph Knibb, mentioned
as of Oxon. in the records of the Clockmakers' Company. He made
a turret clock which was fixed over the State entrance in the Quad-
ra n g le of Windsor
Castle, which Captain
Smyth {Avchaologia,
vol. xxxiii.) speaks of
as one of the earliest
movements constructed
with brass ^\• h e e 1 s .
This statement may be
correct if it refers to
turret clocks only, but
it would not apply to
smaller timekeepers. This clock was inscribed "Joseph Knibb, Londini,
1677," and did duty till 1829, when a new one by B. L. Vulliamy
replaced it. He issued a token, having on the obverse: " Joseph Knibb,
Clockmaker inOxon,"and on the reverse, "I.K.," with a clock face and
hand. In the Camden Society's " Secret Services of Charles II. and
James II." are various records of payments on behalf of King
Charles. In the account up to July 3rd, 1682, is an item, paid "To
Mr. Knibb by his said Ma'tie's comand upon a bill for Clockwork,
£1^1.'" Judging by the Windsor Castle clock, he was in London
in 1677, and till nearly the end of the century he carried on business
there. His work was of the highest class, judging from the
specimens I have had the opportunity of examining. A short
time - ago, Mr. Thomas Peake had a square black case bracket
clock by him, fitted with a curious striking part, of the locking
plate kind, but striking both hours and quarters from one pin-wheel,
which had pins on both sides. The back-plate was engraved to an
X 2
Fig. 441. —Clock-watch by Nathaniel Barrow.
3o8
Old Clocks and Watches and tJicir Makers.
ornamental design, and on it was the inscription, " Joseph Knibb,
Londini, fecit."
A remarkable clock, formerly the property of the Duke of Sussex,
but which now belongs to Mr. Ernest Swanwack, is shown in F'ig. 442.
The case is of ebony, and measures twenty-two inches in height to
the top of the knob. The particular feature which commands
attention is the way in which the time is indicated. The upper
Fig. 442.
portion of the dial is fixed and divided into four quarter-hours, the
divisions being marked by Roman numerals. Each minute is
indicated by a tooth at the edge, and five-minute intervals by round
holes. The central part of the dial rotates, and carries at opposite
points near its periphery two blue discs on which are gilded figures
representing the hours. In the illustration the time shown is thirteen
past two, and the two wid move on till it disappears at the right hand
behind a screen, when the figure three will appear at the left. The
mechanism in connection with this device is illustrated on page 227.
Records of Early Makers, etc.
309
In front of the centre part of the rotatin.L,^ dial is a fixed screen, on
which stags and a landscape are painted. Below is the signature,
"Joseph Knibb, Londini." The exposed annular space of the
rotating dial is covered with a painting of Cupids and clouds. On
the plinth is a label inscribed in gold lettering, " From a model
designed by Prince Rupert." Above the entablature of the case is a
double-headed bird with outstretched wings and the motto, " deus
MEUM guK JUS." This clock is probably referred to in White's
" Natural History of Selborne," in a letter to T. Pennant, speaking
of the Royal Forest of Wolmer and Ayles Holt, which says : " The
grantees that the author
remembers are Brigadier-
General Emanuel Scroope
Howe and his lady Ruperta
(who was a natural daughter
of Prince Rupert by Margaret
Hughes)." ..." The lady
of General Howe lived to an
advanced age, long surviving
her husband ; and, at her
death, left behind her many
curious pieces of mechanism
of her father's constructing,
who was a distinguished
mechanic and artist, as well
as warrior, and among the
rest a very complicated clock,
lately in possession of Mr.
Elmer, the celebrated game
painter, at Farnham, in the
county of Surrey."
The miniature timepiece by Joseph Knibb, with basket top, shown
in Fig. 443, belongs to Mr. J. D. Robertson. It repeats the hour and
quarters on two bells. The case is of black wood, and on the brass
ornament at the left is represented the head of William HI. This
ornament is pivoted near the top, and is drawn aside to expose the
keyhole.
Messrs. Desbois recently had a long case clock made by Joseph
Knibb when he was in London. It was formerly in the collection
of the Duke of Sussex, and therein described as having been
the property of Charles II., when it was called a "drinking
Fig. 443.
310 Old Clocks and ]]^ntches and their Makers.
clock."* The dial was square, of brass well gilt, with a skeleton
silvered ring to receive the Roman hour numerals and a subsidiary
silvered ring for the seconds. The centre of the dial was coarsely
matted, and every minute noted with Arabic figures. The corner
pieces, boldly chased, were of the cherub-head pattern, and the hands
finely carved. A herring-bone border was engraved at the edge of
the square, and altogether the dial presented a handsome appearance.
But the distinctive feature of the clock was the peculiar striking
work, which was on the locking-plate principle. There were two
bells, a large and a small one, and two corresponding hammers ; also
two sets of lifting pins, one on each side of the pin wheel, one set
actuating the large and the other the small hammer. And the pins
were arranged so that at I. o'clock one stroke was given on the
small bell, at II. two strokes, at III. three strokes, at IV. one on the
small followed by one on the large, at V. one on the large, at VI.
one on the large followed by one on the small, at VII. one on the
large followed by two on the small bell, and so on. It will be noticed
that so far each stroke on the small bell stands for the Roman unit,
and each stroke on the large bell for the Roman V. Perhaps the
procedure through the twelve hours will be best shown by different
sized dots to represent the bells as follows : —
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII
• • • • . • • •
•
Among varieties of striking, this plan seems to have a distinct
value, inasmuch as it materially economises the energy required for
telling the round of hours, only thirty blows being required in place
of the usual seventy-eight. This particular clock was arranged for
a run of a month between successive windings.
When a few years ago it was proposed to alter the sub-division of
the civil day by counting the hours continuously instead of duplicating
them, whereby any possible confusion as to whether a particular hour
meant a.m. or p.m. might be avoided, one of the difficulties presented
* I confess I cannot understand this application of "Drinking Clock." August
Demmin speaks of Drinking Clocks constructed at Nuremberg in the seventeenth
century, which had extra outside wheels. At a banquet such a clock being put
on the table commenced to slowly move along it, and the guest before whom the
clock stopped was compelled to empty his flagon ; but, though interesting, this
does not help us in connection with Knibb's timekeeper.
Records of Early Makers, etc. 311
to the niiiuls ot those who attached particuhir importance to a sound
signal was the impracticabiHty of counting so many strokes as would
correspond to the hour as the day neared its close. But by adopting
what perhaps may be called the Roman notation, as here shown to be
practicable, even that reform may yet be appro\'ed of by the majority.
Viscount Ridley has a three months long case clock by Joseph
Knibb, which is inscribed "Joseph Knibb, Londini, fecit," along the
bottom of the dial, and has the striking arranged in the same way.
The case is of ebony. The Wetherfield collection includes two
almost similar specimens.
In the London Gazette, July 9-12, 1688, "a striking watch, two
gold cases engraven, a brass case over them, Joseph Knibb, maker,
day of the month, pins to feel the hours," was advertised for,
" information to be given to Mr. Jos. Knibb, at the Dial, in Fleet
Street." There are other references to him, of which tlie following
may be of interest : —
" Lost, on the 26th inst., near the Ferry Place, Putney, a gold
Pendulum Chain Minute-watch, made by Joseph Knibb, of London,
in a shagreen case, studded, with a Gold Knob, and marked with 48
on the inside of the case. \\'hoever will give notice of it to Mr.
Joseph Knibb, watchmaker, in Fleet Street, shall have 2 guineas and
charges ; or if pawned or sold, their money again and a good gratuity "
(London Gazette, April 30, May 4, 1691).
"Left in a coach or drop'd, the 12th inst., a Gold Out-Case of a
striking watch, engraven. Whoever shall bring it to Joseph Knibb,
clockmaker, at the Dyal, near Serjeants-Inn, in Fleet Street, shall
receive 405. reward" (London Gazette, January 11-14, 1691).
" At the Clock Dyal, in Suffolk Street, near Charing Cross, on
Friday, the 23rd inst., will begin the sale of a great Parcel of very
good Pendulum Clocks, some do go a year, some a quarter of a year,
some a month, some a week, and some 30 hours ; some are Table
Clocks, some repeat themselves, and some, by pulling, repeat the
hours and quarters ; made and sold by Joseph Knibb, at his House
at the Dyal, in Suffolk Street, aforementioned. There are also some
watches to be then and there sold" (London Gazette, April 15-19,
1697).
I may mention that some time ago I saw a long case clock dial,
dating from about 1705, which was inscribed, "Joseph Knibb, of
Hanslope." Hanslope is, I believe, a village near Stony Stratford,
Bucks.
After an examination of many clocks by Joseph Knibb, I should
312
Old Clocks and l]'atchcs and their Makers.
be inclined to class him as a clockmaker with Tompion and Quare.
Further on I will give some illustrations of his long case clocks.
Thomas Harrys. — St. Dunstan's Clock. —Above the main
entrance at the western end of the old church of St. Dunstan's in the
West, in Fleet Street, were erected in 1671 two gilt clock dials,
placed back to back, and mounted in a handsome square case, with
circular pediment, which projected well out over the footway, the
tube containing the rod for actuating the hands being supported by a
well-carved figure of Time. An alcove was built on the roof of the
gateway, and within
were large gaudily-
painted and gilt figures
of Gog and Magog,
which struck " ting-
tang " quarters with
clubs on two bells sus-
pended above them.
The clock and figures
were designed and erect-
ed by Thomas Harrys,
a clockmaker, then liv-
ing at Water Lane,
Blackfriars. Harrys
submitted a statement
of what he proposed to
do, and after describing
the " two figures of
men with poleaxes to
strike the quarters,"
continues, " I will do
one thing more, which
London shall not show the like ; I will make two hands show the
hours and minutes without the church, upon a double dial, which
will be worth your observation, and to my credit." The figures of
Gog and Magog proved to be a great attraction ; they speedily
became one of the sights of London, and their removal, in 1830,
when the church was rebuilt, elicited many expressions of regret.
Fig. 444, taken from an old print of the church in my possession,
represents the clock as it was in 1737.
In 1830, when the old church was in course of demolition, the
Marquis of Hertford bought for two hundred guineas the clock, the
Fig. 444.
Records of Early Makers, etc.
313
quarter figures, and three old statues representing King Lud and
his sons. The Man^uis of Hertford was at that time building a
residence at the north-west corner of Regent's Park. This he called
St. Dunstan's Lodge, and in the grounds thereof the clock and
accessories are still to be seen from Regent's Park. The dials are
now in a circular case ; but the movement, though it has of course
undergone repair from time to time, is still, I believe, substantially
the one Hairys supplied over two centuries ago.
Bradley. — St. Paul's Clock. — Langley Bradley was apprenticed
to Joseph Wise in 1687, and admitted to the freedom of the Clock-
makers' Company in 1694.
Dr. Derham, in acknow-
ledging technical informa-
tion obtained from Bradley
for the first edition of the
" Artificial Clockmaker,"
published in 1696, speaks
of him as an ingenious
workman of Whitechapel ;
but during the greater part
of his career he resided at
the " Minute Dyall " in
Fenchurch Street. Watches
by him with deep move-
ments, very similar to
Tompion's, will bear com-
parison with the works of
that master. An exterior
view of one is given in
Fig. 445. In the Soane
Museum is a calendar watch by him, which belonged to Sir Chris-
topher Wren. It is a fine piece of work, and was probably made to the
order of William III. for presentation to the architect of St. Paul's.
The dial resembles Fig. 394, and the pillars are pierced to form the
royal monogram W. M., surmounted by a crown. Among other
watches by him may be mentioned one in the British Museum and one
in the Guildhall Museum. In the Wetherfield collection are a long
marqueterie case three train chiming clock and a long walnut
case clock. But Bradley seems to have devoted most attention to
larger work, and is perhaps best known as the maker of the noted
clock for St. Paul's Cathedral, which did good service from 1708 till
Fig. 445. — Watch by Langley Bradley 1700.
314 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
1892, and was generally regarded as the standard timekeeper of the
metropolis till the giant dials and Big Ben at Westminster took the
popular favour. He made a clock for Cripplegate Church in 1722.
The following particulars of the St. Paul's Clock, from notes I
made shortly before it was taken down, will probably be of interest.
The frame consisted of a cast-iron rectangular base plate, from which
rose cast-iron columns supporting an entablature of the same metal.
The going train occupied the centre of the space between the base
and entablature, the wheels being arranged vertically ; while the
gun-metal bushes for the pivots were carried in wrought-iron straps
bolted to the base plate and entablature. On one side of the going
train was the quarter part, and on the other side the hour-striking
part, similarly arranged. All the wheels were of gun-metal, the
great wheels being 2 ft. 8 in. in diameter, i in. pitch, and if in. wide.
For the original recoil escapement was substituted a half-dead one
in 1S05, but with this exception it may be said that the whole of
Bradley's mechanism remained in good working order till the clock
was taken down. The two-second pendulum had a wooden rod and
a cast-iron bob weighing nearly 180 lbs. The striking work was on
the rack principle. The mitre wheels for driving the dial works were
commendably large, being 20 in. in diameter, and for supporting the
dial end of the minute-hand arbor there were three friction wheels
placed at equal distances apart round the outside of, and carried to
the hour-hand tube. Slits were cut in the tube to allow a portion of
the circumference of the friction wheels to enter, and the wheels were
of such a size that they projected into the tube just sufficient to meet
the minute-hand arbor. This ingenious contrivance is also applied
to the Westminster clock, and is generally supposed to have been
invented for it. Two sides of the St. Paul's clock tower, one facing
down Ludgate Hill, and the other looking towards the south side of
the churchyard, were utilized for the dials of Bradley's timekeeper,
black rings being painted on the stonework, on which the hour
circles and the numerals were engraved and gilt. Each dial is a
trifle over 17 ft. in diameter, and the central opening measures about
ID ft. 6 in., the hour numerals being about 2 ft. deep. Though but
two sets of dial-work were used, the stonework of the four faces of
the tower is alike, and 'on the eastern side, just visible from Cannon
Street, although the dial was not painted, the hour numerals were
cut in the stone ; this suggests the inference that it was at one time
intended to show the time there ; it was probably found that the
pediment ove the southern entrance to the cathedral so obscured
Rccflrdsi of Early Makcni, etc. 315
the \ie\v as to render the third dial comparatively useless. On the
roof, just outside of this dial aperture, was a horizontal sun-dial, with
a plate over 2 ft. in diameter, for the purpose of regulating the clock
by the sun.
Bradley's bill appears in the Cathedral Accounts, December, 1708,
as follows : —
To Langley Bradley, Clockmaker, viz'- : —
For a large Quarter clock, going 8 days, as by agreement,
dated 15 Nov^ , 1706 300 o o
For 2 large Bellmetal Braces for the great bell, w'- 107''-,
at 14''- per li ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 4 10
For a large strong can\as bed stuffe with oakam and
sewed w"'- strong thread line to receive the clock
weight 250
308 9 10
A curious feature is the description of the clock as an 8-day one,
whereas, for many years at least, it was but a 30-hour one. Indeed,
it seems doubtful if it ever went 8 days between windings, for, by the
arrangement of the train and barrel, the weight fell about 40 feet for
24 hours going.
From the clock room the upper part of the belfry is approached
by a stone staircase formed in the wall of the tower itself, which is
five feet thick, composed of two stone shells, with a space of fifteen
inches between them. Here, forty feet from the clock floor, was
hung the celebrated hour bell which, in addition to its primal duty of
recording the hours, was tolled when the Sovereign, the Bishop of
London, the Dean of St. Paul's, or the Lord ]\Layor of London
passed away.
The commissioners appear to have had just as much trouble with
their hour bell as was afterwards experienced over the casting of Big
Ben for the Houses of Parliament. In the year 1700, when the
cathedral was approaching completion, they purchased, for lod. a
pound, from the churchwardens of St. Margaret's, Westminster,
the celebrated Great Tom, which formerly hung in a clock tower
facing \\'estminster Hall, as related at page 24, and which appears
to have been given to the churchwardens by William III. They
then entered into a contract with William \Vhiteman to recast the
bell, and when the work was done the bell was temporarily hoisted
into the north-west tower of St. Paul's and exhibited to the public,
Whiteman being paid £^^9 I9^- for his labour. But lo ! after sus-
taining many blows for the delectation of the ears of the citizens.
Great Tom the Second exhibited a crack which rapidly developed,
3t6 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
so that the bell was pronounced to be useless. The commissioners
suggested that of course Whiteman would make good his work by-
recasting the bell. " Not so," rejoined Whiteman. " I delivered to
you a sound bell for which I was paid, and since it has been in your
possession it has been cracked." So, to make the best of a bad job, a
very stringent agreement was entered into with another founder —
Richard Phelps, to wit. The accident with the first hour bell
accounts for the difference between the date of the finishing of the
clock and the time when the Phelps hour bell was cast, around the
waist of which is the inscription, " Richard Phelps made me, 1716."
It is 6 ft. gi in. in diameter at the mouth, and according to Phelps'
account, dated December 31st, 1716, weighs 99 cwt. 3 qrs. 7 lbs., of
which 7 cwt. 2 qrs. 21 lbs. were new metal. For tolling it has a
clapper weighing 180 lbs., and the total weight of the bell and fittings
is, I believe, 5 tons 4 cwt. The hammer-head which struck the
hours on the outside of the sound bow weighed 145 lbs. Just below
the hour bell were two bells on which the "ting-tang" quarters
were struck ; the larger of these weighed i ton 4 cwt., and the
smaller 12 cwt. 2 qrs. 9 lbs.
EUicott. — The first John Ellicott, watchmaker, whose parents
came to London from Bodmin, in Cornwall, was apprenticed to
John Waters in 1687, admitted to the freedom of the Clockmakers'
Company in 1696, elected on the Court of Assistants in 1726, and
served as warden from 1731 till his death in 1733. He resided in
the parish of Allhallows, London Wall. But the most eminent
watch and clockmaker of the family was his son John Ellicott, born
in 1706, who established himself in business about 1728 at Sweeting's
Alley, which was situated just where the statue of Rowland Hill
now stands, near the Royal Exchange. After the fire which
destroyed the old Royal Exchange in 183S, Sweeting's Alley was
not rebuilt. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1738,
being recommended for that honour by Sir Hans Sloane, Bart.,
Martin Ffolkes, John Senex, the celebrated globe maker, and John
Hadley, the astronomer. At the meetings of the Royal Society he
became acquainted with James Ferguson, who afterwards frequently
visited Ellicott's private house at St. John's, Hackney, where an
observatory Avas fitted up, and various scientific experiments were
made.
Ellicott was the inventor of a compensation pendulum in which
the bob rests on the longer ends of two levers, of which the shorter
ends are depressed by the superior expansion of a brass bar attached
Records of Early Makers, etc.
317
to the pendulum rod. In Fig. 446, a is the suspension spring ; 5 5 s
screws for uniting the steel rod to the brass bar, slotted holes in the
latter allowing it to move freely in answer to changes of temperature ;
// the two levers pivoted to the steel rod ; on the shorter ends rests
the brass bar ; the screws g g pass through the pendulum bob C C,
and rest on tlie longer ends of the levers. By turning the screws
their bearing on the levers may be adjusted.
This device has not proved to be of much prac- </T
tical value, although there is a clock to which it
is attached still going at the London Institution,
Finsbury Circus.
Ellicott's productions were distinguished by
excellent workmanship. He paid great atten-
tion to the cylinder escapement, and did much
to bring it into use. In some of his later
examples the cylinders were of ruby. His more
costly watches were laxishly decorated, the
cases in repousse, and the dials enamelled on
gold, some of these being really works of art.
They are now rarely to be met with, for the
iconoclastic dealer as a rule ruthlessly changes
the dial for one of cheaper material. In
reference to the prices Ellicott obtained, it may
be mentioned that Horace Walpole, writing to
Sir H. ]\Iann at Florence, on June 8, 1759, with
regard to a commission to purchase a watch,
states that for one of Ellicott's the price was
150 guineas. In the British ]\Iuseum is a silver
repeater by him which belonged to Jeremy
Bentham. Mr. Talfourd Ely, M.x\., in the
AreJurological Journal for June, 1895, gives an i^
interesting description of a watch by John
Ellicott. It is in gold cases, the outer one
decorated in repousse, and appears to have been
made in 1751.
Ellicott was on the council of the Royal Society for three years,
and read several papers before the Society. They included one on
the " Influence which two Pendulum Clocks were observed to have
on each other." The ball of each pendulum weighed above 23 lbs. ;
the cases were placed sideways to each other, so near that the
pendulums when at rest were little more than two feet asunder. In
Fig. 446.
3i8 Old Clocks and WntcJics and their Makers.
less than two hours after they were set going, one of them, called
No. I, always stopped. As it had always kept going with great
freedom before the other regulator. No. 2, was placed near it, Ellicott
conceived its stopping must be owang to some influence the motion
of one of the pendulums had upon the other ; and upon watching
them narrowly the motion of No. 2 was found to increase as No. i
diminished. At the time No. i stopped. No. 2 described an
arc of 5°, being nearly 2° more than it would have done if the
Fig. 447. — John Ellicott, 1706 — T772.
other had not been near it, and more than it moved in a short
time after the other pendulum came to rest. On this he stopped
the pendulum of No. 2, and set No. i going, the pendulum describ-
ing as large an arc as the case would admit, viz. about 5° ; he pre-
sently found the pendulum of No. 2 begin to move, and the motion
to increase gradually, till in 17 min. 40 sec. it described an arc of
2° 10', at which the wheel discharging itself off the pallets the
regulator went, the arcs of the vibrations continued to increase
till, as in the former experiment, the pendulum moved 5", the
Rccurcls of Early Makers, etc, 319
iiiotion of the pendulum of No. i gradually decreasing as the other
increased, and in 45 minutes it stopped. He then left the pendulum
of No. I at rest, and set No. 2 going, making it also describe an arc
of 5' ; it continued to vibrate less and less till it described but about
3", in which arc it continued to move ; the pendulum of No. i
seemed but little affected by the motion of No. 2. Ellicott's
explanation was that, as the pendulums were very heavy, either of
them set going communicated a slight motion to the case and in a
lesser degree to whatever the case touched. Ellicott's experiment
was useful as showing the necessity of fixing clocks with heavy
pendulums to the wall of a building or other ponderous and unyield-
ing structure.
Ellicott designed several of our public clocks, amongst them that
of the London Hospital, and was appointed clockmaker to the king.
He died suddenly, in 1772, ha\-ing dropped from his chair and
instantly expired. The accompanying likeness (Fig. 447) is from a
fine portrait of him shortly before his decease by Dance, afterwards
Sir Nathaniel Dance Holland. John Ellicott was succeeded by his
eldest son, Edward, who had been in partnership with him since
1769. Edward h^llicott died at his residence in Great Queen Street,
in 1 791. The business was then carried on by his son Edward, who,
after serving in the subordinate offices, was elected as master of the
Clockmakers' Company in 1834. Though brought up as a watch-
maker, he had but little liking for the business, and left the conduct
of it in a great measure to others. From Edward Ellicott and Sons
the title of the firm was altered to Ellicott and Taylor in 181 1, and
to Ellicott and Smith in 1830. After the destruction of Sweeting's
Alley, Ellicott and Smith removed to 27, Lombard Street, and
remained there till 1842.
There was a third John Ellicott admitted to the freedom of the
Clockmakers' Company by patrimony in 1792. He was the second
son of the first Edward, but appears to have taken no part in the
watch or clockmaking business. His grandson. Dr. Ellicott, is the
present Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol.
Henry Sully. — This talented but unfortunate horologist was
apprenticed to Charles Gretton, of Fleet Street, in 1697. On the
completion of his apprenticeship he travelled over the Continent,
visiting Holland and Austria. From Vienna he went to Paris with
the Duke d'Aremberg, where he made the acquaintance of Julien
Le Roy, Law the noted Scottish speculator, and others. Le Roy
at once recognised the genius of the young enthusiast Avho was
320 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
imbued with ideas for perfecting timekeepers, and encouraged him to
continue his researches. In 171 7 Sully published " Rfegle Artificielle
du Temps." The following year, commissioned by Law, he
journeyed to London and engaged sixty watch and clockmakers,
who, with their families, were located at Versailles, where a factory
was started. After two years of unremitting toil Sully was dis-
placed from the directorate, but a little later, under the protection of
the Duke de Noailles, another factory was established at St. Ger-
main. This lasted but a year, when Sully returned to England,
bringing his staff of workpeople with him. The same ill fortune
dogged his steps here, and in his extremity he returned to Paris,
where for a time he sustained existence by repairing watches. In
1 72 1, when a little more prosperous, he turned his attention to the
production of a marine timekeeper, and in 1724 presented it to the
Academy of Sciences. This instrument had a modification of
Debaufre's escapement, which Sully devised for the purpose, and a
vertical balance which was really a pendulum. It carried cycloidal
metal pieces, around which the upper end of a slender wire was
wound, the lower end being attached to a lever with an adjustable
weight, with the idea of keeping the vibrations of the balance iso-
chronous. The pivots of the balance, instead of being in holes, were
supported on the edges of large rollers, to diminish the friction, a
device adopted afterwards by Mudge. In 1726 Sully published
"Abregee d'une Horologe d'une Nouvelle Invention pour la Juste
Mesure du Temps sur Mer." When subjected to the tossing of the
ocean, his timekeeper failed to yield the results anticipated from its
performance on land. Though mortified by his failure, he again set
himself to the solution of the problem. He had already made a
marine watch with two balances geared together, as designed by
Dr. Hooke, and now proceeded with a new timekeeper of different
construction ; but while engaged thereon he was seized with a serious
illness, induced by over-application and worry, and succumbed to
inflammation of the lungs in 1728.
At the church of St. Sulpice, Paris, he had traced a meridian line
on the pavement of the transept, and secured its permanence by
inlaying a thin brass edge. He blocked up the south transept
window except for a small hole in a metal plate at the upper part
throu"-h which the rays of the sun cast a luminous disc about
iQi- inches in diameter on the floor. The disc moves across the line
which at noon bisects it. In this church he was buried, and a fine
obelisk of white marble erected to his memory in the north transept,
Records of Early Makers, etc. 321
in a position that allowed the meridian line to be can'ied up the face
of the nionuinent. A laudatory inscription recounted his services to
horology, but the greater part of it was cut out by the revolutionists
of 1793, who possibly resented the suggestion that French watch-
makers could be indebted to a foreigner.
In the Guildhall Museum is a timekeeper with Sully's curious
vertical balance. It is in the form of a bracket clock with a walnut
bell-top case, has a seconds hand above the centre of the dial, and
shows the days of the month through a slit below the centre. It is
inscribed " Henricus Sully, invenit et fecit (1724), Horloger to the
Duke of Orleans."
John Harrison. — John Harrison was born at Faulby or Wragby
near Pontefract, Yorkshire, in 1693. He was the son of a carpenter,
which business he followed for several years of his life. In 1700 the
family removed to Barrow, in Lincolnshire. At a very early
age John Harrison showed a great predilection for mechanical pur-
suits, and particularly directed his attention to the improvement of
clocks.
The offer, by Act of Parliament, of large sums for the production
of a timekeeper sufficiently accurate to ascertain the longitude at
sea, induced him to turn his attention to the subject. He devised
a form of recoil escapement which required no lubrication at the
acting surfaces of the pallets, the arms being jointed and furnished
with springs which tircked each one in turn out of the wheel as the
pendulum reversed its swing. He also succeeded in constructing a
pendulum in which the effects of heat and cold in lengthening and
shortening the pendulum were neutralized by the use of two metals
having different ratios of expansion. His escapement, generally
called the "grasshopper," is shown in Pig. 449; it was of no
practical value and need not be further described. His pendulum,
known as the gridiron form of compensation, shown in Fig. 450, is
still the form of compensation adopted in many foreign regulators.
It is composed of nine parallel rods, five of steel and four of brass,
the total length of each kind being nearly as 100 to 60, that being
the ratio of expansion of the two metals. Depending from the
cross frame A are two rods of steel a a. The frame B, to which
they are fixed at their lower extremities b b, carries also two
brass rods c c, which at their upper ends, i d, are carried in the
frame C, together with two other steel rods e e. Those at the
lower extremities // are fastened in the frame D, which also carries
the brass rods g g. The frame F carries the upper ends of this last
C.W. Y
322
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
pair of brass rods at h h, and also the
central steel rod to which the bob is
attached.
One of his early efforts, with wheels
and pinions of wood, which is in the
possession of Mr. Evan Roberts, has
John Harrison's signature Avith the
date 1 71 3 on the face of the day of
the month wheel. Another long case
clock by him is at the South Kensington
Museum, and one made about 1730,
fitted with the grasshopper escapement,
which was for some years in the pos-
session of Mr. Thos. nj
Nicholson, Barton-on- i,
H umber, now belongs -^^o^^-v.>_
to his grandson, Mr. W.
W. Nicholson. In the Guildhall Museum may be
seen a very similar relic.
In 1728 Harrison journeyed to London, taking
with him his pendulum, his escapement, and drawings
of his proposed timekeeper, hoping to obtain the
approbation and aid of the Board of Longitude.
Before being submitted to the notice of that body
they were inspected by Graham, whose maturer judg-
ment prompted him to advise Harrison to first make
the timekeeper, and then ascertain, from its actual
going, what claims it might have to further notice.
Harrison continued plodding on in the country
repairing watches and clocks and making a variety
of experiments till 1735; then, in his forty-second
year, he came to London and took up his residence
in Orange Street, Red Lion Square. He brought
with him a timepiece he had invented and con-
structed. It was a cumbersome affair in a wooden
frame, and had two balances. He obtained certifi-
cates of the excellence of this timekeeper from Halley,
Graham, and others. On their recommendation he
was allowed, in 1736, to proceed with it to Lisbon
in a king's ship, and was enabled to correct the
reckoning to within i" 30'. Fig. 430.
Records of Early Makers, etc.
323
In consideration of this result, the Board of Longitude gave liim
£^500 " to proceed with his improvements." It will be observed
that the performance of his first timekeeper failed to attain the
precision required by that Board ; for had it determined the longitude
to a degree, Harrison would have been entitled to ^10,000 according
to the provisions of the Act, as stated on page 345. In 1739 he
finished another timekeeper, and afterwards a third, which was
Fig. 451. — John Harrison, 1693-1776.
smaller and appeared to the members of the Royal Society to be more
simple and less likely to be deranged than either of the preceding ones.
In 1749 he received the gold medal which was annually awarded by
the Royal Society to the most useful discovery, but he was still not
satisfied with his productions. The experience gained by prolonged
trial led him to abandon the heavy framing and wheels which charac-
terized his earlier essays and to devise and construct his celebrated
" watch " which eventually won for him the coveted reward.
Y 2
32zi Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
He spent some time in improving and correcting his fourth
nautical timekeeper, and then appHed to the Commissioners of the
Board of Longitude for a trial according to the Act of Parliament.
This, after much delay, was granted, and his son William was in his
stead allowed to take a voyage to Jamaica. William Harrison
embarked in the Deptfovd, at Portsmouth, on November i8, 1761.
After 18 days' navigation the vessel was supposed to be 13'^ 50' west
of Portsmouth by ordinary calculations, but by the watch was 15° 19',
and the timekeeper was at once condemned as useless. William
Harrison, however, maintained that if Madeira were correctly
marked on the chart, it would be seen on the following day ; and
in this he persisted so strongly, that the captain was induced to
continue the same course, and accordingly the island was discovered
the next day at seven o'clock. In like manner William Harrison
was enabled by the watch to announce all the islands in the order
in which they would fall in with them. When he arrived at Port
Royal, after a voyage of 61 days, the chronometer was found to
be about nine seconds slow. On January 28, 1762, he set sail
from Jamaica on board the Merlin, and on his return to Portsmouth,
after an absence of five months, the chronometer had kept time
within about one minute five seconds, which gives an error of 18
miles. This was much within the limit of the 30 miles prescribed
by the Act of 1713 ; yet, several objections being raised, William
Harrison was obliged to undertake a second voyage, the proof from
the first not being considered sufficiently decisive by the Board,
although they advanced ^5,000 on account of the reward.
Accompanied by Dr. Maskelyne as the representative of the
Board, William Harrison embarked in the man-of-war Tartar, on
March 28, 1764, and arrived in Barbados on the 13th of May, when
it was found the chronometer had gained 43 seconds ; he set
out for the return journey on board the New Elizabeth on the 4th
of June, and arrived at the Surrey Stairs on July i8th, when it was
ascertained that after allowing for the estimated rate of one second
a day gaining, there was an excess of 54 seconds for the whole period
of 156 days. The result of this second voyage was so satisfactory,
that the Board unanimously declared Harrison had really exceeded
all expectations and demands of the Act of Parliament, and he was
paid a further advance of ^5,000, with the condition that he explained
the construction of his timekeeper. A sub-committee, consisting
of Maskelyne, John Mitchell, Ludlam, Bird, Mudge, Mathews and
Kendall, were appointed, and instructed to make themselves
Records of Early Makers, etc.
325
acquainted with the mechanism of the instrument. They reported
themselves satisfied in 1765, but even then considerable delay
occurred. Kendall was commissioned to make a duplicate of the
chronometer, which appears to have taken three years to execute,
for the date of Kendall's instrument is 1769, the year the final
payment was made to Harrison.
Harrison's timekeeper is in the form of a large silver pair-case
watch, with a centre seconds hand. The representation in Fig. 452 is
from a photograph for which I am indebted to the Astronomer
Fig. 452. — Harrison's celebrated Marine Timepiece.
Royal. It has been stated that the piece hung in gymbals. This
was not the case ; it reposed on a soft cushion, and on its trial
voyages was carefully tended by William Harrison, who avoided
position errors as far as possible by shifting the timekeeper to suit the
lie of the ship.
The plates are 3-8 in. and the balance 2-2 in. in diameter ; the
fusee makes 6j turns. The escapement beats five times in a second.
The pivot holes are jewelled with rubies.
One of the chief features is a bimetallic arm fixed at one end, and
carrying at its free end two pins, to embrace the balance spring near
its outer point of attachment. " The thermometer kirb is composed
326 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
of two thin plates of brass and steel riveted together in several
places, which, by the greater expansion of brass than steel by heat,
and contraction by cold, becomes convex on the brass side in hot
weather, and convex on the steel side in cold weather ; whence,
one end being fixed, the other end obtains a motion corresponding
with the changes of heat and cold, and the two pins at this end,
between which the balance spring passes, and which it touches
alternately as the spring bends and unbends itself, will shorten or
lengthen the spring."
Harrison at first provided additional curb pins for mean time
adjustment, but had to abandon them ; for it is clear, if they were
placed behind the pins on the compensation curb, they would not
act, and, if placed in front, the movement of the temperature pins
would be ineffective.
It is, of course, easy to be Avise after the event ; but, on examining
the remontoire and escapement of Harrison's chronometer in the
presence of the simple detent escapement introduced shortly after,
it seems marvellous that he should have spent so many years over
such complicated and by comparison inefficient contrivances.
Harrison's drawings are most difficult to understand, but I venture
to reproduce some contributed to the Horological Journal by Mr.
H. M. Frodsham, which were made from Kendall's duplicate
of Harrison's timekeeper at the Greenwich Observatory.
Fig. I is a section through the fourth wheel. Fig. 2 a plan of the
remontoire and contrate wheel. Fig. 3 a plan of the remontoire
and escapement. The pinion at the top of Fig. i is driven by
internal teeth on the third wheel of the train. The wheel
immediately below the pinion in Fig. i is the fourth wheel, which
drives a pinion X (Fig. 3). The dished wheel below the fourth
wheel in Fig. i is the contrate wheel (C Figs. 2 and 3). In the
recess of the contrate wheel is contained the remontoire spring
which is wound eight times in a minute. The wheel at the bottom
of Fig. I is the seconds wheel. This and the contrate wheel move
continuously, while the fourth wheel and the other part of the train
are locked by the lever D catching the stop P on the wheel P X,
except during the winding of the remontoire. On the collet of the
contrate wheel are eight pins, shown in Fig. i, and at Q in Fig. 3.
The eight pins in the contrate wheel in succession push the arm H
(Fig. 3), and so unlock the train. The locking wheel P X drives a
fly pinion and fly, \\ to moderate the velocity with which the
remontoire was wound. The seconds arbor is in the centre of the
Records of Early Makers, etc.
327
watch, and is driven by the seconds wheel below the contrate
wheel. The projections P P' on the barrel of the reniontoire are
to prevent the remontoire running down.
Fig. 4 shows the pallets, which, instead of forming an angle of
95° or so, as is usual, are set parallel to each other, and in this way
there is very little recoil, but increased tendency, to set. These
acting surfaces of the pallets are diamonds set in brass collets.
Fig. 453. — Harrison's Remontoire Escapement.
During William Harrison's voyages, the rate of the watch could
not of course be checked daily for want of some means of com-
parison, and so in May, 1766, the Board of Longitude placed the
instrument at the Greenwich Observatory in the hands of Dr.
Maskelyne, who had then been appointed Astronomer Royal, for
the purpose of testing its daily rate. Dr. Maskelyne was supposed
to favour lunar observations as a solution of the longitude problem
and William Harrieon considered he was prejudiced against the
328 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
watch ; it was therefore put in a box having a glazed Hd and two
locks the keys whereof were kept, one by Dr. Maskelyne and the
other by Captain Baillie, Governor of Greenwich Hospital. The
trial lasted 298 days, during which the watch gained i hour 10
minutes 27-5 seconds. Its greatest gain in one day was 30 seconds,
the temperature being 60° and the pendant vertical ; its greatest
loss in one day was 6-5 seconds, the thermometer being at freezing
point, the piece lying dial up.
Harrison's watch and the three bulky timepieces which preceded
it are all preserved in the Greenwich Observatory.
On his tomb in the south-west corner of Hampstead churchyard is
the following inscription : —
" In memory of Mr. John Harrison, late of Red Lion Square, London, inventor
of the timekeeper for ascertaining the longitude at sea. He was born at Foulby.
in the county of York, and was the son of a builder at that place, who brought
him up to the same profession. Before he attained the age of twenty-one, he,
without any instruction, employed himself in cleaning and repairing clocks and
watches, and made a few of the former, chiefly of wood. At the age of twenty-
five he employed his whole time in chronometrical improvements.
" He was the inventor of the gridiron pendulum and the method of preventing
the effects of heat and cold upon timekeepers by two bars fixed together ; he
introduced the secondary spring to keep them going while winding up; and was
the inventor of most (or all) the improvements in clocks and watches during his
time. In the year 1735 his first timekeeper was sent to Lisbon, and in 1764 his
then much-improved fourth timekeeper having been sent to Barbadoes, the Com-
missioners of Longitude certified that it had determined the longitude within one-
third of half a degree of a great circle, having not erred more than forty seconds
in time. After sixty 3'ears' close application to the above pursuits, he departed
this life on the 24th day of March, 1776, aged eighty-three. This tombstone was
put up many 3-ears after his death."
In 1878 the tomb had become very dilapidated, the inscription
being barely decipherable, and I then suggested to Mr. W. H.
Prosser that he should obtain subscriptions, and have it restored.
This he proceeded to do ; but on applying to the Clockmakers'
Company, some members of the Court expressed a wish that the
matter should be placed in the hands of the Company, and the
restoration was accordingly made under the direction of the Court
forthwith. The engraving on page 323 is from one by P. L. Tassaert,
after a portrait by T. King taken in 1768. Harrison's marine watch
is at his right hand, and one of his earlier essays behind him.
Pinchbeck. — Among the celebrated clock and watchmakers of
the eighteenth century must be reckoned Christopher Pinchbeck,
known principally as the discoverer of an alloy of metals, called after
him " Pinchbeck," and as an inventor of " Astronomico-Musical
Clocks." In the Dictionary of National Biography, R.B.P. suggests
that he probably sprang from the small town of Pinchbeck in
Records of Early Makers, etc. 32Q
Lincolnshire. He resided at Clerkenwell in a turning out of St.
John's Lane called Albion Place, which, prior to 1822, when it was
rebuilt, was known as St. George's Court. From there he removed
to Fleet Street, as is shown by the following advertisement which
appeared in Appkbce's Weekly Journal of July 8th, 1721.
" Notice is hereby given to Noblemen, Gentlemen, and Others, that Chr. I 'inch-
beck. Inventor and Maker of the famous Astronomico-Musical Clocks, is removed
from St. George's Court, St. Jones's Lane, to the sign of the Astronomico-
Musical Clock in Fleet Street near the Leg Tavern. He maketh and selleth
Watches of all sorts and Clocks, as well for the exact Indication of Time only, as
Astronomical, for showing the various Motions and Phenomena of planets and
fixed stars, solving at sight several astronomical problems, besides all this a
variety of Musical performances, and that to the greatest Nicety of Time and
Tune with the usual graces ; together with a wonderful imitation of several songs
and Voices of an Aviary of Birds so natural that any who saw not the Instrument
would be persuaded that it were in Reality what it only represents. He makes
Musical Automata or Instruments of themselves to play exceeding well on the
Flute, Flaggelet or Organ, Setts of Country dances, Minuets, Jiggs, and the
Opera Tunes, or the most perfect imitation of the Aviary of Birds above mentioned,
fit for the Diversion of those in places where a Musician is not at Hand. He
makes also Organs performing of themselves Psalm Tunes with two, three,
or more Voluntaries, very Convenient for Churches in remote Country Places
where Organists cannot be had, or have sufficient Encouragement. And finally
he mends Watches and Clocks in such sort that they will perform to an
Exactness which possibly thro" a defect in finishing or other Accidents they
formerly could not."
His reputation was world-wide, to judge from the appended extract
from a letter of the period, quoted by J. W. Pinks : —
" Mr. P. has finished a fine musical clock, said to be a most exquisite piece of
workmanship, and worth about ^1500, wch is to be sent over to ye King of France
(Louis XIV.) and a fine organ to ye great Mogul, worth /'300.'
Pinchbeck exhibited his " astronomico-musical clocks," together
with a variety of curious automata, at Bartholomew Fair, and the
Daily Journal of August 27th, 1729, announces that the Prince and
Princess of Wales went to Bartholomew Fair to see his exhibition.
Pinchbeck also attended Southwark Fair, and with Fawkes, a
celebrated juggler and conjurer of that day, had a united "show."
This may shock many who avail themselves of the fine arts of
advertising in vogue to-day ; but, however undignified it may have
been, it cannot detract from his ability as a horologist.
Mr. J. E. Hodgkin has a trade card, " Pinchbeck, senr., at
Pinchbeck's Head in Fleet Street," a change of sign possibly induced
by the popularity of Pinchbeck's name. Mr. William Norman has a
metal token ; on the obverse, a bust of George H. ; reverse, a bust
in a frame, surrounded by representations of a walking-stick, snuff-
box, signet ring, watch (or medal) attached to a double chain, and
330 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
other articles, with the inscription, " Pinchbeck, senr., at Pinchbeck's
Head in Fleet Street."
Pinchbeck gold was much used for watch cases and the like. It
is an alloy of three parts of zinc to four of copper ; but its composi-
tion was jealously guarded by the inventor, as may be gathered
from the following extract from a letter quoted by W, J. Pinks : —
'' Mr. Xtopher Pinchbeck had a curious secret of new-invented metal wch so
naturally resembles gold (as not to be distinguished by the most experienced eye),
in colour, smell, and ductibility. Ye secret is communicated to his son."
He died in 1732, at the age of sixty-two years, and was buried
in St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet Street. The annexed portrait is
from an engraving by Faber after a painting by Isaac Whood.
Edward Pinchbeck, eldest son of Christopher, who was born in
1 71 3, succeeded his father in the business, as is evident from a
" Caution to the Public " which he inserted in the Daily Post of
July gth, 1733.
" To pre\ent for the future the gross imposition that is daily put
upon the publick by a great number of shopkeepers, hawkers, and
pedlars, in and about this town, Notice is hereby given, that the
ingenious Mr. Edward Pinchbeck, at the Musical Clock, in Fleet
Street, does not dispose of one grain of his curious metal, which so
nearly resembles gold in colour, smell, and ductility, to any person
whatsoever ; nor are the toys made of the said metal sold by any one
person in England except himself." After recounting the various
articles he makes from the alloy, the notice continues : " And in
particular watches, plain and chased in so curious a manner as not to
be distinguished by the nicest eye from real gold, and which are
highly necessary for gentlemen and ladies when they travel, with
several other fine pieces of workmanship of any sort made by the
best hands. The said Mr. Pinchbeck likewise makes astronomical
and musical clocks ; which new invented machines are so artfully
contrived as to perform on several instruments great variety of musick
composed by the most celebrated masters, with that exactitude, and
in so beautiful a manner that scarce any hand can equal them.
They likewise imitate the sweet harmony of birds to so great a
perfection as not to be distinguished from nature itself. He also
makes repeating and all other sorts of clocks and watches ; particularly
watches of a new invention, the mechanism of which is so simple, and
the proportion so just, that come nearer truth than any others yet
made."
Christopher Pinchbeck, second son of the first named Christopher,
Recorch of Early Makers, etc.
331
carried on a successful business as a clock and watch maker in
Cockspur Street, bein<i^ described as clockmaker to the Kinii^. In
iy6fi lie is said to have bought from Ferdinand Berthoud, for
George III., the first pocket watch made with a compensation
curb. In 1781 he was elected as an honorary freeman of the
Clockmakers' Company. He died at Cockspur Street in 1783, aged
seventy-three, and was buried at St. ■\Iartin's-in-the-Fields.
Fig. 454. — Christopher Pinxhbeck, 1670-1732.
A Richard Pinchbeck, " toyman," who seems to have carried on
business 1 760-70, was probably a member of the same family.
In the Gentleman s Magazine of June, 1765, it is stated that
Pinchbeck and Norton had "just set up at the Queen's House a new
complicated clock, ha\ ing four dials, and amongst them it denoted
clock and sun time, sunrise and setting for every day in the year in
various places of the world, the Copernican motion of the planets,
the ages and phases of the moon, high water at thirty-two different
seaports, and the days of the week and the months of the year."
332 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Notwithstanding this announcement, it is very doubtful if Pinch-
beck and Norton were ever in partnership. The probabiHty is that
each of them provided a clock, for there are still two astronomical
clocks at Buckingham Palace, one by Christopher Pinchbeck the
younger, and one by Eardley Norton. Each of these clocks has
four dials, one on each face of the square case, and bearing a close
resemblance to the dials on the old clock in the South Kensington
Museum, which is represented on page loo. Pinchbeck's clock is
the larger of the two, and has a handsome tortoiseshell case with
silver spandrels at the corners of the dial.
Thomas Mudge. — Thomas Mudge, born at Exeter in 171 5, was
the son of a clergyman, who kept a school at Bideford. Young
Mudge showed great taste for mechanics, and his father, noticing his
extraordinary inclination for horology, placed him as an apprentice
with Graham. Mudge here made rapid progress in his art, and on the
completion of his indentures took a leading position in the establish-
ment. He was admitted to the freedom of the Clockmakers' Company
in 173S, and called to the Livery in 1766. At Graham's death, in
1 75 1, Mudge succeeded to the business, as shown by the following
from the Daily Advertiser of November 1 8th, 1 75 1 : — " Thomas Mudge,
watchmaker, apprentice to the late Mr. Graham, carries on the business
in the same manner Mr. Graham did, at the sign of the ' Dial and One
Crown,' opposite the 'Bolt and Tun' in Fleet Street." Shortly after
Mudge was established, Ferdinand the Sixth, of Spain, ordered an
equation watch from a well-known English watchmaker, who, in
consequence of the difficulties presented by this unusual construction,
had recourse to Mudge. Ferdinand was a lover of mechanical work,
and hearing of this circumstance, sent an order direct to Mudge to
construct for him any piece of horology which he thought the most
curious, and to charge for it whatever he chose. In response Mudge
constructed a watch which showed true and apparent time, struck
the hours, and repeated not only the hours and quarters, but the
minutes also. The king set great store by this piece of workman-
ship, for which Mudge charged him 480 guineas. About 1755 he
entered into partnership with William Button, another apprentice of
Graham.
Mudge invented the lever escapement about 1765, but it appears
only constructed two watches on this principle : one for Queen
Charlotte, which performed admirably, the other for his patron and
friend Count Bruhl, which, after several journeys, subjected to all
the inconveniences of changes of position and quick travelling, kept
Records of Early Makers, etc.
333
time within a few seconds during several weeks. Mudge showed
this escapement to Berthoud, when he was in London in 1766, but
he did not think so favourably of it as Margetts, Emery, and other
English horologists did.
In 1765 he published "Thoughts on the Means of Improving
Watches, particularly those for Use at Sea." From this time his
attention was mainly directed to marine timekeepers, and in 1771,
leaving the conduct of the Fleet Street business to Dutton, he
Fig. 455. — Thomas Mudge, 1715 — 1794.
quitted London, and went to reside at Plymouth, where he devoted
himself to the construction of chronometers. The first one was
sent to Greenwich Observatory in 1774, and afterwards to Baron
Zach (who was astronomer to the Duke of Gotha), and lastly to
Admiral Campbell, who took it a voyage to Newfoundland, when
its performance was pronounced to be satisfactory. The Board of
Longitude sent him ^500, requesting him to continue his researches.
Two other chronometers were sent to the Greenwich Observatory
for trial in 1779.
334 ^^^ Clocks and Watches and their Maker's.
Dr. Maskelyne and Mudge could not agree. Maskelyne, who
was Astronomer Royal, carried the Board of Longitude with him.
It was asserted that chronometers by Arnold performed better than
those of Mudge. Arnold had not submitted his chronometers for
the Government reward, and therefore Mudge objected to the
comparison. On the petition of Mudge, the House of Commons, in
1 79 1, appointed as a committee to investigate the performance of
Mudge's chronometers, the Bishop of St. David's, Mr. Atwood,
Mr. De Luc, Mr. Ramsden, Mr. Edward Troughton, Mr. Holmes,
Mr. Haley, and Mr. Howells, the last three being watchmakers of
repute. After much bickering, Mudge, in 1793, was paid ^2,500, in
addition to ^^500 he had already received as encouragement, although
the Board of Longitude dissented from this course.
Mudge was often employed by George HI. on delicate pieces of
work, and on the death of George Lindesey, in 1776, was appointed
watchmaker to the king. He was made free of the Clockmakers'
Company in 1738, and admitted to the livery in 1766. The engrav-
ing on p. 333 is from a painting by Dance, executed for Count
Bruhl in 1772. He died at his son's house in Walworth, on
November 14th, 1794.
That an accomplished horologist and sound mechanic as Mudge
seems to have been should, after his invention of the lever escape-
ment, have persisted in the complication of a remontoire and
vertical escapement for his marine timekeepers, must be ascribed
to the perversity of genius.
The salient features of his chronometer are shown in the accom-
panying drawings. To obviate the difficulty of the compensating
curb action interfering with the action of the regulating curb pins
there are two balance springs. The upper one for regulating has
its stud C screwed to the balance cock, the stud D of the lower
spring, with which the pins of the compensation curb engage, being
fixed to the upper plate of the chronomeier. There are two
remontoire springs, H and I, which are wound by the escape wheel
G, and which alternately impel the balance through the pins a, b,
connected with the upper, and e, f with the lower one. The wheel
and pallet actions will be understood from an examination of the
lower figure, which is a plan. After the wheel tooth has given
impulse to the pallet, and thereby wound the remontoire, it is
locked on the projecting nib of the pallet till the balance in its
excursion unlocks it, and allows the tooth on the opposite side of
the wheel to impel the other pallet. The balance staff is cranked.
Records of Early Makers, etc.
335
and the pallets with the remontoires are pivoted partly in the
balance staff and partly in separate cocks, so that there are six
pivots moving from the balance staff centre.
After Mudge's migration to Plymouth, the Fleet Street business
seems to have reverted entirely to William Dutton, although the
title of Mudge and Dutton was retained till 1794.
Thomas Mudge, junior, who was an attorney at 3, Old Square,
Lincoln's Inn, engaged Messrs. Howells, Pennington, Pendleton,
Fig. 456. — Mudge's Remontoire.
and Coleman, to produce chronometers on his father's plan ; but
they were too costly, and not successful. By 1799 the younger
Mudge sold eleven at 150 guineas each, which did not pay him. Of
others in course of manufacture some were finished by his coadjutors,
and some by Messrs. Barraud and Jamison. One of these instru-
ments is in the Soane Museum, another at the Horological Institute,
and another at the Guildhall Museum.
John Arnold. — This famous horologist was born in 1736, at
Bodmin, in Cornwall, where he was apprenticed to his father, a
336 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
watchmaker. While a youth he left home, and after a stay of some
time in Holland he determined to try his fortune in London. At
first he worked as a journeyman, but soon found an opportunity of
establishing himself at Devereux Court, Fleet Street. One of his
earliest acts here was to make an exceedingly small half- quarter
repeating watch, which he had set in a ring, and presented to
George III. in June, 1764. When it is stated that the whole move-
ment measured but little more than one- third of an inch across, his
ability as a fine workman and his marvellous sense of touch will be
appreciated.* The escapement selected was a cylinder one, the
cylinder, made of ruby and measuring one fifty-fourth of an inch in
diameter, being the first made of that material. The king accepted
the repeater, and presented its maker with 500 guineas as an
acknowledgment of his surpassing skill.
Arnold's achievement at once brought him into notice, and from
that time his future success was assured.
It is said that the Empress of Russia offered Arnold 1,000
guineas for a duplicate of the repeater made for George III., but
the offer was declined, not that Arnold doubted his ability to
produce it, but because he desired the miniature timekeeper to
remain unique.
Arnold now turned his attention seriously to the problem which
was engaging the thoughts of leading horologists here and in
France. John Harrison had already fulfilled the conditions laid
down by the Board of Longitude, and thus practically secured the
;^20,ooo offered by Parliament in 17 14 for a timekeeper sufficiently
exact to ascertain the longitude within certain limits. A subse-
quent Act of Parliament, however, devoted a further ^10,000 as a
stimulus to continued research and improvement. Mudge was
already in the field, and seemed bent on adhering to the remontoire
principle somewhat on Harrison's plan. But it was clear to other
minds that a nearer approach to perfection might be obtained by a
* According to the Annual Register ior 1764, the whole of this repeater, com-
posed of 120 parts, weighed but 5 dwts. 7I gr., the following being the weight of
the principal items : The movement, complete, is 2 dwts. 2| gr. ; great wheel
and fuzee, 2J gr. ; second wheel and pinion, | gr. ; barrel and mainspring, 3 J gr. ;
third wheel and pinion, i gr. ; fourth wheel and pmion, J-, gr. ; cylinder, wheel,
and pinion, J^ gr. ; balance spring, cylinder, and collet, § gr. ; the balance spring,
gij3 gr. ; the chain, i gr. ; barrel and mainspring, ij gr. ; great wheel and ratchet,
I gr. ; second wheel and pinion, 1 gr. ; third wheel and pinion, ^ gr. ; fourth
wheel and pinion, ) gr. ; fly wheel and pinion, Jy gr. ; fly pinion, -^ gr. ; hour
hammer, ^ gr. ; quarter hammer, ^ gr. ; rack, chain, and pulley, i^ gr. ; quarter
and half-quarter rack, | gr. ; the quarter and half-quarter snail and cannon
pinion, | gr. ; the all-or-nothing piece, ^ gr. ; two motion wheels, i gr. ; steel
dial-plate with gold figures, 3^ gr. ; the hour snail and star, ^ and ig gr.
Records of Early Makers, etc. 337
chronometer of altofj^ether a different character to the one invented
by Harrison.
One of Arnold's first essays was a chronometer which Captain
Cook took with him in the Resolution on his second voyage, in 1772.
Two other timekeepers of Arnold's w^ere on board the Adventure.
Mr. J. U. Poole, who has examined these early examples, two of
which are the property of the Royal Society, states that they have
plain circular balances with fiat balance springs acted on by a com-
pensation curb ; the escapements are a compound of the lever and
the spring detent, and they beat half seconds, the workmanship
being xevy rough compared with the finish exacted in the present
day. It seems certain that a timekeeper of Larcum Kendall, which
was also carried on the Resolution, performed better than those of
Arnold did.
Arnold was not to be daunted. He profited by experience, and
devised the helical form of balance spring, and a form of
compensation balance. The spring, as shown in the sketch, „ ^^
is very similar to the one now in most general use for 1 V^^
marine chronometers, but the balance was rather a com- ^^
plicated affair. These components he patented in 1775
(Patent No. 11 13), and his specification describes com-
pensation to be effected by a brass and steel volute fixed
at its inner end to the collet of the balance, and actuating
weighted rods by means of a lever attached to its outer
end. Some years later he adopted the simple circular p
bimetallic-rim balance practically as now^ used, except
that he soldered the brass and steel together and formed the circular
rim with pliers, whereas Earnshaw first turned a steel disc and then
melted the brass on to its periphery, a plan which, according to Rees,
was introduced by Brockbank.
In May, 1782, Arnold patented his improved detent escapement
(Patent No. 1328). This is practically the chronometer escapement
of to-day, which was almost simultaneously invented by Thomas
Earnshaw, except that in Arnold's escapement the escape wheel
teeth, instead of being flat where they gave impulse, were epicycloidal
curves, as shown in Fig. 458 ; but they required oiling, and were
consequently abandoned. While Earnshaw's wheel is locked on the
points of the teeth and the detent moves away from the centre of
the wheel to unlock, Arnold's locked on the heel of the tooth and
the detent moved towards the centre of the wheel to unlock, the
sunk part of the body of the wheel allowing the locking stone to pass.
C.w. z
338
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Arnold was now admitted to be a very successful chronometer
maker, but he still continued his investigations, and made countless
experiments with a view to improvements.
Some time after 1764 Arnold quitted Devereux Court for Adelphi
Buildings, which is the address given in his patent specifications,
and in an account of the going of a pocket chronometer, in 1781, it
is stated to have been compared with the regulator at his house in
the Adelphi. About 1785 he removed to 112, Cornhill, where he
carried on business until his death, his son being admitted into
partnership during the latter part of the time. Arnold and Son
also had a chronometer manufactory at Chigwell in Essex.
In a book of " Certificates and Rates of Going," which he published
in 1 79 1, he gives the price of his large marine chronometers as from
60 to 80 guineas; pocket chronometers, in gold cases, 120 guineas,
arrd in silver, 100 guineas; repeaters from 150 guineas for the best
kind in gold, down to
25 guineas for the com-
monest, in silver cases.
The rival claims of
M u d g e , Arnold, and
Earnshaw to the rewards
offered for the best
chronometer were sub-
mitted to a Select Com-
mittee of the House of
Commons, assisted by a committee of experts, and eventually each
was awarded ;^3,ooo ; but a moiety of Arnold's portion was not
paid till after his death, when it was received by his son. Arnold
had not laid claim to the reward when depositing his chronometers
at the Greenwich Observatory ; but their good performance was
made use of by Maskelyne as a reason why Mudge's claim should
not be recognized.
Arnold told the committee he had then made upwards of 900
timekeepers, but never two alike, so long as he saw room for any
possible improvements ; adding, " I have twenty number ones."
According to Beillard, Arnold's son John Roger was apprenticed
in Paris to Breguet. Some time ago, by favour of Mr. Hurcomb, I
examined a Tourbillon Chronometer in an engine-turned silver case,
with square edges, which appears to have been the original model
for the celebrated Tourbillon of Breguet on a chronometer by
Arnold. The foot of the balance-cock was especially wide, and bore
Fig. 458.
Records of Early Makers, etc.
339
the followint^ inscription : — " Premier rej^iilateur a tourbillon de
BregLiet reuni a un des premiers ouvra^es d'Arnold. Hommages de
Breguet a la memoire re\-eree d'Arnold offert a son fils. An 1808."
The workmanship thronghout was splendid, and the graceful tribute
to Arnold's genius of course enhanced the value of the piece.
John Arnold was admitted as a member of the Clockmakers'
Company in 1783, and chosen on the livery 1796. He died at Well
Fig. 459. — JoH\ Arnold, 1756 — 1799-
Hall, near Eltham, Kent, in 1799. The above portrait is from
an engraving by Susan Ester Reid, after a painting by R. Davy.
At South Kensington is a painting showing John Arnold, his
wife and son, together with a label stating that Arnold was assisted
in his profession by his wife. A reproduction of this group is given
in Fig. 460.
John Roger Arnold seemed to have inherited neither the horo-
logical ability nor the commercial aptitude of his father whom he
succeeded. He was admitted to the Clockmakers' Company in 1796,
z 2
340
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
and became master in 1 817. In 1820 he removed from Cornhill to
27, Cecil Street, and from thence in 1830, to 84, Strand, where he
entered into a partnership agreement for ten years with E. J. Dent,
and during this period the business flourished ; but immediately the
term expired Dent set up for himself at 82, Strand, carrying with him
the confidence of most of the customers of the late firm. John R.
Arnold continued at 84, Strand, till 1843, when he died.
Fig. 460. — JOHN Arnold, his wite and son.
Thomas Earnshaw. — To Thomas Earnshaw, who was born at
Ashton-under-Lyne in 1749, must be ascribed tne merit of having
devised the chronometer escapement and compensation balance
precisely as they are now used.
The comparison of Arnold's and Earnshaw's escapement and
balance just given in the sketch of the former's career may be
referred to and need not be repeated.
That Earnshaw was a true horologist by intuition is evident. He
is said to have been honest and straightforward, but somewhat rugged
in his manner. There, are, however, but few details of his life to be
obtained. He was apprenticed to a watchmaker when fourteen years
Records of Early Makers, etc. ^41
of age, and seems to have come to London inmiediately on completion
of his indentures. After working for some time as a finisher of
verge and cylinder watches, he taught himself watch jewelling and
then cylinder-escapement making, using ruby cylinders and steel
wheels. He married early in life, and the necessity of providing for a
Fig. 461. — Thomas Earnshaw, 1749 — 1829.
family out of his earnings seems to have hampered him considerably
in carrying out his projects.
To improve the chronometer escapement he, in 17S1, conceived
the idea of substituting a spring detent for the pi\'oted form as
applied by Le Roy and other French artists. After showing the new
method to John Brockbank, for whom he worked, he took it to Thomas
Wright of the Poultry, another of his customers, and agreed that
when a watch with the device was finished, Wright should patent
it. But the latter kept the watch for a year to observe its going,
and did not obtain the patent till 1783. In the meantime John
342 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Arnold had lodged a Patent Specification claiming the same thing
as his invention. To the end of his life Earnshaw lost no oppor-
tunity of declaring in emphatic language his belief that John Brock-
bank had divulged his plan to Arnold. According to Earnshaw's
account his own actions were always marked by trusting simplicity
though his confidence was continually betrayed. The patent cost
Wright ^loo, and as all negotiations with Brockbanks, Haley, Wm.
Hughes, Best and other leading watchmakers to purchase a share of
it failed, watches with the new escapement were manufactured for
various people on payment to Wright of a royalty oi £i each. The
first dozen were not a success ; the impulse roller being too small
with relation to the escape wheel, they were liable to stop. Earn-
shaw discovered the fault and with better proportions brought the
new escapement into favour for pocket watches. The earlier ones
were stamped [">atlnt^] ^^ small characters, a form of marking which
was dropped after a few years.
Dr. Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal, having tried one of his
watches in 1789, advised Earnshaw to apply to the Board of
Longitude for permission to submit timekeepers for official trial at
Greenwich Observatory. P^ive of his watches were tested there in
1 79 1, and then he obtained an order for two chronometers, and
these were deposited at the Observatory on January ist, 1798.
In 1794 or 1795 Earnshaw succeeded to the business which had
been carried on for some years by W'm. Hughes at 119, High
Holborn, one door east of the turning then known as King St. but
now called Southampton Row. The shop referred to was pulled
down when the thoroughfare was widened in 1901.
The committee of investigation appointed to consider the claims
of chronometer improvers awarded Earnshaw ^500 in 1801 on
account of his inventions, and in 1803 a further £2,500, making his
total reward ^'3,000. Rightly or wrongly, he was of opinion that he.
was not well treated, and ni 1808 issued " An appeal to the Public,"
declaring he was entitled to more pre-eminent recognition. The
engraving on page 341 is copied from one by S. Bellin after a portrait
by Sir M. A. Shee.
Earnshaw also made a number of clocks. For the first one, which
was ordered by the Archbishop of Armagh, he was paid /'150 and
an additional ;^ioo for going to Armagh to fix it.
He died at Chenies Street in 1829, but the business was carried on
for some years by his son, first at the Holborn premises and afterwards
at Fenchurch Street.
Records of Early Makers, etc. 343
Ascertaining the Longitude at Sea. Development and
use of the Marine Chronometer. — The discovery of America, in
1492, caused some attention to be paid to the question of finding the
longitude at sea, for it was evident that if ocean navigation was to be
carried on with anything like safety, some more certain means of
ascertaining the position of a ship than was possible by dead reckoning
would have to be pro\ided.
Columbus had not an azimuth compass, nor a sextant, nor a
chronometer, nor a patent log, and he, and his immediate successors,
were several months making the voyage across the Atlantic, while
the early voyagers took about three years to circumnavigate the
globe. Even in the middle of the last century Commodore Anson, in
his celebrated voyage round the world, had no safe guide. When he
rounded Cape Horn he unexpectedly made the land on the western
side, and found himself in consequence three hundred miles more to
the east than he expected, and so his voyage was delayed. Then,
again, he wanted to make the island of Juan Fernandez to recruit
the crew. He got into the latitude of the island and thought he
was to the west of it, but he was really to the east ; he ran eastward
and made the mainland of America, and turned round and had to
sail westward again before he got to the island.
With a sextant the latitude may be readily ascertained by
measuring the altitude above the horizon of certain of the heavenly
bodies and reducing the observations by reference to tables.
Finding the longitude is not" so simple a matter, owing to the
rotation of the earth on its axis, and the apparent change of places
of the stars. As early as 1530 Gemma Frisius suggested solar
observations and a timekeeper as a possible solution of the problem.
The captain of a ship can readily ascertain the instant of noon at
any place by observation of the sun, and so it is clear that if he
had an instrument that could be depended on to show him the time
at Greenwich or any other starting-point, the calculation of his
longitude would be an easy one. But the most important adjunct,
an accurate timekeeper, was wanting.
In 1598 the matter had risen to such importance that the King of
Spain offered a reward of one hundred thousand crowns for any
invention which should gain that object. The rulers of one or two
other maritime states followed his example, but all without effect.
Early in the seventeenth century John Baptist Morin proposed the
preparation of tables with a view of making lunar observations avail-
able. Although Morin's suggestion was ridiculed at the time, it has
344 ^^^ Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
become a perfectly practicable method. The moon is nearer the
earth than the stars, and consequently appears to occupy a different
position with regard to them when viewed from different points on
the surface of the globe. And as the moon moves so swiftly from
night to night through the sky, she shifts her position with respect
to the stars very rapidly. If the sailor be provided beforehand with
a book giving the distances of the moon from certain fixed stars for
certain hours of say Greenwich time on every day of the year, he
can, in any position in which he may be, by observing the position
of the moon, secure a datum from which the longitude may be
deduced. But even after the position of the moon with relation to
these fixed stars has been ascertained, and the voluminous tables
provided, somewhat tedious calculations are necessary to reduce the
elements afforded by the observations obtained ; besides which, if
the lunar method alone is relied on, there is the disadvantage that
the moon is not always visible. However, Morin's suggestion led to
nothing at the time, and the greater simplicity of solar observations
induced most investigators to consider the possibility of providing a
correct timekeeper. The first attempts to supply the want seem to
have been made by Huygens and Hooke.
Huygens' marine clock, constructed about 1660, suspended in
gymbals and actuated by a spring, was controlled by a pendulum.
It was tried at sea by a Scottish captain named Holmes with but
moderate success. A marine pendulum clock constructed under
the direction of Dr. Hooke, was tried by Lord Kincardine in 1662,
only to demonstrate the futility of relying on the pendulum as a
regulator when tossed about in a ship on the ocean.
In the course of a paper he read before the Royal Society in 1662,
Dr. Hooke said : " The Lord Kincardine did resolve to make some
trial what might be done by carrying a pendulum clock to sea, for
which end he contrived to make the watch to be moved by a spring
instead of a weight, and then, making the case of the clock very
heavy with lead, he suspended it underneath the deck of the ship
by a ball and socket of brass, making the pendulum but short,
namely, to vibrate half seconds ; and that he might be the better
enabled to judge of the effect of it, he caused two of the same kind
of pendulum clocks to be made, and suspended them both pretty
near the middle of the vessel underneath the decks. This done,
having first adjusted them to go equal to one another, and pretty
near to the true time, he caused them first to move parallel to
one another, that is, in the plane of the length of the ship, and
Records of Early Makers, etc. 345
afterwards he turned one to move in a plane at right angles with
the former ; and in both these case.s it was found by trials made at
sea (at which I was present) that they would vary from one another,
though not very much." Dr. Hooke concludes by saying that " they
might be of very good use to the sea if some further contrivances
about them were thought upon and put into practice."
In 1 7 14 the British Parliament, on the recommendation of a com-
mission, of which Sir Isaac Newton was a member, passed " an Act
for providing public reward for such person or persons as shall
discover the longitude at sea." This Act ordained " that any
offered method or invention on this subject shall, in the lirst
instance, be investigated by a specially selected body of practical
men, who may then recommend it to the Royal Commissioners
constituting the Board of Longitude." The award was fixed at
;^i 0,000 for a method or in^■ention to dehne on a voyage from
England to any of the West India Islands and back the longitude
within one degree, ;^i 5,000 to define the longitude within two-
thirds of a degree, and ^20,000 to within half a degree.
The Paris Academy of Sciences in 1720 offered a prize for the
best description of a suitable timekeeper. This was won by Massy,
a Dutch clockmaker. In 1721 Sully produced a clock which he laid
before the Academy in 1724. It had a vertical balance, which from
the description seems to have been a pendulum with cycloidal
guides. This timekeeper promised success till tested in the open
sea, when its performance, like that of the preceding instruments,
was found to be unsatisfactory. Sully, however, seemed to be on
the high-road to success, and he was engaged on another timekeeper
just before his untimely decease.
In 1675 Greenwich Observatory was founded. Flamstead was
instructed to rectify the tables of the motions of the heavens and
the places of the fixed stars. He made a large star catalogue, and
many observations on the moon and other bodies, and the
results of his lunar observations were taken in hand by the
philosophers of the time, Newton and others. The construction of
lunar tables, and to predict the place of the moon with sufficient
accuracy for the adoption of the lunar method of longitude, was a
very serious task.
It was not until 1767 that Maskelyne, a succeeding Astronomer
Royal, founded the " Nautical Almanac," and gave therein, for the
first time in any country, distances of the moon from certain fixed
stars, that the lunar method came into use. In the early part of the
346 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
nineteenth century the rehabihty of the chronometer was estabhshed,
and since then the chronometer method has gradually superseded
the "lunar." In the "Nautical Almanac" the lunar distances are
still retained, and circumstances occasionally arise when the mariner
is glad to have recourse to them.
Stimulated by the prospect of obtaining the reward offered by
the British Parliament, John Harrison, after thirty years of un-
remitting labours and vicissitudes, recounted in the sketch of his
life (see pp. 321-328), fulfilled, in 1761, the conditions laid down by
the Board of Longitude. Thoroughly as Harrison deserved the
reward he so laboriously earned, it is curious to note that of all his
inventions embodied in his timekeeper, the maintaining spring in
the fusee is the only one that has survived.
Other Acts of Parliament relating to the subject were passed in
1 741, 1753, and 1774. The last, repealing all former Acts, offered
;^5,ooo for a timekeeper determining the longitude to or within one
degree ; ^7,500 for determining the same to within 40 geographical
miles ; and /'io,ooo for a determination at or within half a degree.
Further, to obtain the smallest portion of the reward, the error of
the timekeeper was not to exceed more than four minutes in six
months.
Mudge, the inventor of the lever escapement and an experienced
horologist, with almost incredible infatuation, proceeded on the
lines adopted by Harrison. Though he produced a superior instru-
ment to Harrison's (see p. 334), he allowed Arnold (p. 336) and
Earnshaw (p. 340) to develop the marine chronometer of to-day.
The investigations of Berthoud and Pierre Le Roy were nearly
contemporaneous with those of Mudge, Arnold, and Earnshaw.
Each of the French masters designed a detached escapement, and
while Berthoud used a gridiron arrangement of brass and steel to
compensate for temperature errors, and fitted his timekeeper with
two balances geared together, Le Roy experimented with a balance
composed of two mercurial thermometers, the bulbs being furthest
from the centre of motion and the ends turned inwards. No one
could question the ability of Berthoud and P. Le Roy, but in exe-
cuting their respective conceptions the Englishmen showed superior
judgment. The French marine timekeepers were by comparison
very unwieldy, which may perhaps be traced to the influence of M.
Daniel Bernoulli, an eminent mathematician, who, says P. Le Roy,
" wishes marine watches to be as large as good clocks are commonly
made, that the pieces may be worked with greater exactness, and
Records of Early Makers, etc. 347
that their defects, if there are any, may be more easily perceived.
This is nearly what I have practised in the new marine watch."
However, the simplicity of construction and the compactness of
Arnold and Earnshaw's chronometers have ensured the general
adoption of their models.
Vulliamy. — This noted family of clockmakers was of Swiss
Fig. 4'->-.- Cl'jck by Justin Vulliamy, Windsor Castle.
origin. Justin Vulliamy emigrated from Switzerland and settled in
London early in the eighteenth century. He became connected with
Benjamin Gray, of Pall Mall, whose daughter he married, and with
whom he subsequently entered into partnership. Watches of very
fine quality, inscribed " Benj. Gray, Just. Vulliamy," are occasionally
to be met with. A choice example fetched £120 155., when the
Hawkins collection was dispersed by auction in 1895. The case of
gold was enamelled in colours with figures in a garden, birds and
348
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
flowers ; the outer case was of gold and crystal, and had a diamond
thumb-piece to press back the locking spring. A fine watch by them,
with the hall mark for 1757, formerly the property of Lieut. James
Stockham, who commanded the Thunderer at the battle of Trafalgar,
is in the Guildhall Museum. In the Wetherfield collection are two
long case clocks of their make.
At Gray's death the business was carried on by Justin \'ulliamv.
3
^^^^^^^^^^^1
iii^B^^^^^^^^^^^W
'o>#-l ^^^^H
IFH
f-^.B^
V ■
-t^^ ;- ^^^^1
^^Kik ^K
^^^^ f \ ^^^H
MMA j^
pt^"ii^ i ^m
mmmM^WM
^MMK» '!^^
^B^"
Wtk '"ii./^
Fig. 463.
Benjamin Gray was appointed as clockmaker to George II., and the
family of Vulliamy held the office of clockmaker to the reigning
sovereign till the death of Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy in 1854.
Benjamin Vulliamy, the son of Justin, was much favoured and
consulted by George III. on mechanical subjects, especially in
connection with Kew Observatory, which was a hobby of the king.
Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, born in 1780, was noted for the exactness
Records of Early Makers, etc.
349
and excellent finish of his work, in both clocks and watches. The
large clock at the old Post Office, St. Martin's-le-Grand, and one at
Christ Church, Oxford, are among the public timekeepers by him.
He took an acti\e interest in the Clockmakers' Company, of which
he was five times master between 1821 and 184S. In 1849 the Court
presented him with a piece of plate in recognition of his services
to the Company. He wrote several pamphlets on trade subjects.
One of them, on the construction of the dead-beat escapement for
clocks, advocated the turning of the pallets for ensuring greater
exactness.
Specimens of \'iilliamv's handiwork abound at the Royal Palaces,
Fig. 464.
and in many instances clocks originally by other makers now contain
Vulliamy movements either wholly or in part. All those I have
illustrated are at Windsor Castle.
On the mantelpiece of the late Queen's dining-room was a chiming
clock by Justin Vulliamy, in a plain blackwood broken arch case as
shown in Fig. 462. It has a white enamel dial, and was chosen by
Her Majesty for the situation by reason of its particular legibility.
The subsidiary dials in the upper corners are for guidance in actuating
the rise and fall of the pendulum and strike-silent hands.
A clock by Vulliamy in an uncommon and well-executed case of
white marble, with two boys of biscuit china and particularly realistic
building materials, is shown in Fig. 463.
350
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
The presence chamber contains a sumptuous mantelpiece of
white marble, a magnificent piece of sculpture by J. Bacon, R.A.,
executed in 1790, and incorporating the clock case as seen in
Fig. 464.
The clock is by Vulliamy, the fine enamelled dial slightly convex
^ * ->*, ,t ^-'
Fig. 465.
in form, measures about ten inches across. Under the clock is the
inscription by Cowper : —
QU^ LENTA ACCEDIT QUAM VELOX PR/ETERIT HORA
UT CAPIAS PATIENS ESTO SED ESTO VIGIL,
which Hayley happily rendered : —
" Slow comes the hour, its passing speed how great !
Waiting to seize it — Vigilantly wait."
In the Grand Reception-room is a clock with a movement by
Records of Early Makers, etc.
351
Fig. 466,
Chiming clock by VuUiamy.
^ '« /
V
#^
Fig. 467
Standard Clock at Windsor
Castle.
352
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
VuUiamy and the peculiar case in the Chinese style shown in
Fig. 465. This and the companion case which contains an aneroid
barometer were made to the order of George IV. for the Pavilion
at Brighton, and removed to Windsor on the accession of Queen
Victoria.
A fine chiming clock by Vulliamy, with case in the Louis XIV.
style, and dating from about 1820, which is in the Zuccarelli room
at Windsor Castle, is shown in Fig. 466. The outline of the case is
r."fT^r^TSVhrhfeVy-W-Vr^
iJie iOc*|Hmi ISM
Waiin*>ili«M««f
Fig. 468.
excellent, the surface of black shell is inlaid with brass and decorated
with bold but rather coarsely chased ormolu mounts
On the landing by the Administration Offices of the Castle is the
long case clock by Vulliamy shown in Fig. 467, It is well made,
with jewelled pallets, and is now used as a standard timekeeper.
The dial is of enamel with gilt spandrels. The case though plain is
of choice mahogany and has an effective appearance.
Over the state entrance in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle, was
formerly a clock by Joseph Knibb, which B. L. Vulliamy replaced in
Rt'ccrds of Early Makers, etc.
353
1829 by one, the dial and surroundings of which are shown in Fig. 468.
Though plain, the dial and hands are certainly an example of the
best style of that period.
When the new Houses of Parliament were being built, the
architect, Mr. Barry, applied to Mr. B. L. VuUiamy for information
respecting the construction of the clock tower, and this circumstance,
together with \'ulliamy's influential position in the horological
Fig. 469. — BENJA^^^• Lewis Vulliamy, 17S0 — 1S54.
world, led people to think he would make the clock, as indeed it
Avas intended by Barry and others that he should. But Vulliamy
objected to the conditions laid down by Mr. Denison, who was
commissioned by the Government to draw up a specification in
conjunction with the i\stronomer Royal, and, backed by the Clock-
makers' Company, declared the stipulations to be too onerous and
unnecessary. Vulliamy submitted drawings of what he considered
the clock should be like, and this design Denison ridiculed as being
c.w. A A
354
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
merely suited for a village clock of the old style, and quite unworthy
of the national time-
keeper. Denison's
masterful attitude pre-
vailed, and Vulliamyhad
to succumb, feeling, there
is no doubt, the keenest
mortification at being
ousted from the proud
position of leading clock-
maker. It must be ad-
mitted that his talent lay
rather in the perfection
of details than in com-
prehensive departures
from the beaten track.
He died in January,
1854. 1'^^^ appended
portrait is from a mini-
ature at the Horological
Institute.
Justin Theodore
V u 1 1 i a m y , who was
warden of the Clock-
makers' Company from
1820 to 1822, appears to
have had no other con-
nection with the horo-
logical trades. He was,
I believe, a brother of
B. L. Vulliamy.
Charles Clay. — A
remarkably handsome
musical clock by Charles
Clay, which stood for
many years in a manor
house in Suffolk, is shown
in Fig. 470 by favour of
Mr. P. Webster.
It is 8 feet 6 inches
Fig, 470.— Musical clock by Charles Clay. in height, the case being
Records of Early Makers, etc.
355
cli\iclfcl into two portions, the upper part of which is of ainboyna
wood relieved with heavy brass mounts well finished. In the arch
of the dial are shown the age of the moon, the day of the month, and
the following list of tunes played by the clock : —
"(i) Mr. Arcangelo Corelli's Twelfth Concerto, ist Adagio, 2nd
Allegro, 3rd Saraband, 4th Jigg.
" (2) The fugue in the overture of Ariadne."
On the hour circle is engraved the maker's name, " Charles Clay,
London." The pedestal, which is of Spanish mahogany and
amboyiia wood, contains Clay's chiming machine with 21 bells. It
is a fine piece of mechanism, dri\en by an ordinary cliiming weiglit.
OUU PLATC.
Fig. 471.
though the barrel is fully 12 inches in diameter. Dampers are used
to avoid vibration of the bells one with another, and by an ingenious
contrivance the music starts immediately the clock finishes striking.
The fly is attached to an endless screw, which ensures smooth
running. This clock is apparently referred to in the following
extract from the Weekly Journal, May 8th, 1736: — "On Monday
Mr. Clay, the inventor of the machine watches in the Strand, had
the honour of exhibiting to her Majesty at Kensington his surprising
musical clock, which gave uncommon satisfaction to all the Royal
Family present, at which time her Majesty, to encourage so great an
artist, was pleased to order fifty guineas to be expended for numbers
A A 2
356
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
in the intended raffle, by which we hear Mr. Clay intends to dispose
of this said beautiful and most complete piece of machinery."
James Ferguson. — James Ferguson was born at Keith, Banff-
shire, in 1 710. He lived for some years at No. 4, Bolt Court, Fleet
Street, where he died in 1776, and was buried in Marylebone church-
yard. Among other conceptions of this celebrated astronomer and
mechanician is the clock here shown, which is contrived with only
three wheels and two pinions. The hours are engraved on a plate
fitting friction tight on the great wheel arbor ; the minute hand is
attached to the centre wheel arbor, and a thin plate divided into
240 equal parts is fitted on the escape wheel arbor, and shows the
Fig. 472.
Fig. 473.
seconds through a slit in the dial. The clock has a seconds pendulum.
The number of teeth in the escape wheel is higher than is desirable,
and the weight of the thin plate or ring in the escape wheel arbor is
objectionable, though it might now be made of aluminium, vulcanite,
or other very light material.
Ferguson also designed a curious and useful clock for showing
the time of high and low water, the state of the tides at any time
of the day, and the phases of the moon. The outer circle of the
dial in the left-hand corner of Fig. 472 is divided into twice twelve
hours, with halves and quarters, and the inner circle into 29-5 equal
parts for showing the age of the moon, each day standing under the
time of the moon coming to the meridian on that day. There are
Raiirds of luirly Mukcrs, etc,
357
two hands on the end of the arbor comin;,^ throuf,di this dial, wliich
go round in 2g days 12
hours 45 minutes, and
these hands are set as far
apart as the time of hij^di
water at the place the
clock is to ser\e differs
from the time the moon
comes to the meridian ;
so that, by looking at this
dial, one may see at what
time the moon will be on
the meridian and at what
time it will be high water.
On the dial in the right-
hand corner, all the differ-
ent states of the tide are
marked. The highest
points on the shaded ellipse
represent high, and the
lowest, low water. The
index travels round this
dial in the time that the
moon revohes from the
meridian to the meridian
again. In the arch abo\e
the dials a blue plate, to
represent the sea, rises
and falls as the tides do,
and over this a ball, half
black and half white,
shows the phases of the
moon.
The mechanism as it
would appear at the back
of the dial is shown in
Fig. 473. A wheel of 30
fixed to the hour wheel
on the centre arbor goes
round once in twelve hours, and gears with a wheel of 60, on
whose arbor a wheel of 57 drives a wheel of 59, the arbor of
Fig. 474.
35.8 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
which carries the hand for the right-hand dial. On this arbor is
an elliptical cam which carries and lets down the tide plate twice
in 24 hours 50-5 minutes. On the arbor of the wheel of 57 is a
pinion of 16, driving a wheel of 70, on whose arbor is a pinion
of 8 driving an idle wheel of 40. This idle wheel is merely to
reverse the direction of the wheel of 54 with which it gears, and
which carries the hands for the left-hand dial. The moon is driven
from this last arbor by means of a pair of mitre wheels.
Jenkins' Astronomical Clock. — Henry Jenkins, who flourished
from 1760 to 1780, first at 46, Cheapside, and afterwards at 68,
Aldersgate Street, must be reckoned among the celebrated clock-
makers of his time. Fig. 474 shows one of several astronomical
clocks he contrived and produced. There are concentric second and
minute hands, and among other motions are shown : equation of
time, days of the month, age and phases of the moon, time of high
water at many seaports, the apparent motion of the fixed stars,
motions of the planets, etc.
The lunar and other motions, except the revolution of the planets,
are nearly as in Enderlin's clock, and need not be recapitulated.
From the earth's diurnal motion wheel, rotating once in twenty-
four hours, is driven a worm which carries forward an annual wheel,
and the representation of the fixed stars one tooth each day. From
thence is a communication to the planetary system dial above,
and the motions of the planets are obtained by six wheels fixed
together on one stud and driving six other wheels whose sockets are
circles, and represent their respective orbits. On the stud are wheels
of 108, 78, 84, 40, 8, 5, driving on sockets 26, 48, 84, 75, 95, 147.
George Margetts. — By the originality of his conceptions
embodied in exact and well finished mechanism this chronometer
and watch maker must be ranked with the masters. He was admitted
as a member of the Clockmakers' Company in 1779 and carried on
business at 21, King Street, Cheapside, till the end of the century,
when he removed to No. 3, Cheapside. In Fig. 475 is shown a
watch by him with a series of intricate superimposed dials and
indicators actuated by exceedingly well-made mechanism. A small
centre dial indicates mean time, and on this dial at the XH is the
word Ports'^ ; London at 7 minutes ; Hull at 15 minutes ; Yarmouth
at 22 minutes ; Dover at 29 minutes ; Downs at 35 minutes ; Plym''
at 45 minutes, and Dublin at 55 minutes. An enamel ring outside
this dial gives tidal hours. Through a hole in this ring is shown the
age of the moon, and a hand attached to the ring indicates the part
Rc'cords of Early Makers, etc.
359
of the heavens the moon is in. A <j;old band below this carries a
pointer indicating the position of the sun. The signs of the zodiac
are painted on the lower large dial. Beyond the tropic of Cancer is
figured the Sun's declination in correspondence with the days of the
year ; beyond that the degrees, 30°, of each sign of the zodiac ; and
nearer still to the edge of the dial the niontlis and days of the year,
so that, except that no pro\ision is made for leap year, it is a correct
calendar. The large dial makes one turn in a sidereal day ; the sun
hand, making one turn in
a solar day, becomes the
pointer indicating the date
because it gets ^{r^th of
the circle after the dial
each day. A finger attached
to a large gold band on the
dial shows the declination
of the sun throughout the
year. The different pointers
can be set independently
of each other. Fitted round
the smallest dial and ex-
tending to the large gold
band is a curved frame of
gold with arcs within it.
It carries a pointer and
may be moved round but
its purpose is not evident.
An eccentric circle on the
large dial represents the
orbit of the earth, farthest
from the sun in June,
nearest in December. The watch is in pair cases, the inner one of brass,
and the outer one of twenty-two carat gold bearing the London hall
mark of 1783. I recently saw a watch of earlier date with a similar
dial. Watches by him with complicated dial work are also in the
British and Guildhall Museums.
As the cost of these watches must have been very great, one is
inclined to think they were probably ordered for presentation by
some wealthy corporation such as the East India Company. A
ship's captain for instance would particularly appreciate such a
piece of complicated horology. Some time ago I was shown a
Fig.
475-
36o
Old Clucks and Watches and ilicir Makers.
chronometer by him on the dial of which was inscribed " Margett's
eight-days timepiece, 202," and on the plate, " Geo. Margetts, London,
Invt. et fecit, eight-day nautical chronometer." It was the size of
a small two-day marine chronometer, the great wheel being planted
near the top plate ; it had a spring detent ; an escape wheel o
sixteen teeth, measuring -470 of an inch in diameter and an impulse
Fig. 476. — Breguet's Synchronizer.
roller one quarter the size of wheel. He made a regulator for the
Archbishop of Armagh in 1790, and can be traced at 3, Cheapside,
till about 1806.
Abraham Louis Breguet. — The intense and abiding interest
taken in the works of this the predominant Continental horologist of
his period, may be traced to the great variety of his conceptions and
the exactness with which they were carried out. He seems to have
Records of liiii'lv Miiksrs, cic.
361
had the faculty of sun'ounchn,;^ hiinsfU with assistants wlio were
good mechanicians and able to embody his ideas to the best
advantage. Clocks, chronometers and watches of his make all bore
the stamp of originality in some particular. A defect in construction
had only to be pointed out or the whim of a customer re\ealed, when
Breguet was ready with the retiuirement. Of his more daring con-
trivances may be mentioned a "synchronizer" or clock for setting
a watch right, a tourbillon or revolving carriage in which the escape-
ment of a w^atch was placed so as to nullify the effect of change of
Fig. 477. — Watch with perpetual calendar and equation of time register.
position, which was one of the most perplexing problems of the
adjuster; yielding bearing surfaces to the balance stati pivots of a
watch, which he termed a " parachute," the object being to prevent
damage to the pivots through shocks.
Beillard quotes a letter from Breguet to the " Citoyen " minister
of the Interior, asking for a patent for his escapement a Tourbillon,
dated Paris le 18 Brumaire An IX.
Of Breguet's writing no extracts can be given, for he published
nothing ; his works form the best tribute to his memory. Of these
a few are selected for illustration.
362 Old Clocks and ]]\itchcs and their Makers.
Fig. 478. — Braguet's " Chef d'ceuvrc." Perpetual or self--.vinding watch with gold movement.
Fig. 479. — Watch with synchronous balances; two movements in one case.
Records of Early Makers, etc.
.^^3,
Fip^. 476 is a \-ie\v of a clock and watch forming the " Synchro-
nizer " which was in tlie Napier collection. Another specimen is
the property of His Majesty the King, and I am indebted for the
illustration to Mr, H. M. Frodsham who, by permission, explained
the mechanism of it in the Hovological Journal some time ago. As
already stated, the object of the in\ention is to set the watch right.
Projecting above the case of the clock are two crescent-shaped clips
to hold the watch. The clock may be regarded as a standard, and
Fig. 4 So.
Prince Murat's repeating watch.
Fig. 4S1.
Watch with chronometer escape-
ment mounted in tourbillon carriage.
when the watch is placed in position, as shown, it is not only set to
time at any desired hour, but if necessary the regulator of the watch
is also shifted. Projecting from the top of the clock is a pin which
enters a small hole in the case of the watch and so establishes con-
nection between the special pieces added to the two. There is an
extra train of wheels in the watch to set the minute hand to zero,
and this train is discharged by a snail-shaped cam in the clock.
\\\i\\ this general statement I must be content ; the details are most
complicated, and to attempt anything like a clear description within
a reasonable space would be hopeless.
364
Old Clocks and Wnich.cs and iliciv Makers.
In Fig. 477 are front and l)ack \iews of a gold watch, No. 92,
which was sold to the Due de Praslin for 4,800 francs on the
II Thermidor, An 13 (30th July, 1805). It repeats the preceding
hour, each period of ten minutes which has elapsed, and then the
number of minutes beyond. On an enamelled dial in front are
a perpetual calendar and an equation of time register. It has an
independent seconds hand. At the back of the watch is a gold
engine-turned dial, showing the age of the moon, the amount the
mainspring is wound, a regulator for time, and one also for the
repeating train.
Front and back \iews of what is often spoken of as Breguet's
chef d'ceiivre are given in Fig. 478. It is
a watch measuring 2f inches across, which,
as stated in Breguet's Certificate, was ordered
in 17S3 by an officer of the Marie Antoinette
Gardes, with the condition that it should
contain all complications and improvements
then known or possible, and that in its
construction gold instead of brass should
be used. No price was fixed, and its manu-
facture was begun in 1789, stopped during
the revolution of 1789, again started in 1795,
and completed in 1802, costing altogether
30,000 francs. It is furnished with a lever
escapement, compensation balance, gold
balance spring, and two parachutes. All the
pivots, without exception, run in ruby or
sapphire holes. All parts usually of brass are
of gold. It repeats the hours, quarters, and
.ninutes, has an independent seconds hand, perpetual calendar,
equation of time register, and a thermometer. But perhaps the
most ingenious feature of the mechanism is that there is no pro-
vision for a watch key, nor is any periodical operation needed to
keep the watch going. So long as it is worn, recharging of the
energy is automatically accomplished by a heavily-weighted but
lightly-balanced nrm or lever, to which ordinary movenxents of the
wearer give sufficient up and down motion to wind the mainspring
with which it is connected. Breguet is generally credited with the
invention of this device, but of this I am not sure, for a patent
granted in 1780 to Recordon may ha^■e been a prior disclosure
of it. Back and front the movement is covered with rock crystal,
Fig. 482.
Queen Victoria's Watch
Exact size.
Records of Early Makers, etc.
JUD
and the dial also is of crystal, though another dial of white
enamel with gold figures is provided. This extraordinary watch
is tlie property of Mr. Louis Desoutter, to wlion: I am in-
debted foi- the photographs of this
and of the other Breguet watches
here shown.
Fig. 479 gives front and back \iews
of a watch by " Breguet et fds,
No. 2794," which was sold to Louis
XVII L in September, 1821, for 7,000
francs. Here are really two move-
ments side by side in one case, witli
separate niunerals and hands for each.
The obje' t of its production was to
demonstrate the effect on the time-
keeping of a balance when another
similar balance was set in motion near
it. It was thought the errors of one
woukl neutrahze the errors of the
other, and that they would vibrate in
unison. There is a provision for
lessening or increasing the distance
the balances are apart. A counter-
part of this watch was made for
George III.
The watch of which a front view
is given in I'ig. 480 has a gold case
and dial, repeats the hours and
quarters, and is furnished with a
calendar and a thermometer. It is
numbered 1806, and was sold to
Prince Murat in 1S07 for 4,000
francs.
In Fig. 481 is represented a silver
watch having a chronometer escape-
ment mounted in atourbillon carriage.
It is signed " Breguet et fils," and numbered 2520. Its original cost
was £r96.
An exceedingly diminutive and thin double-cased watch is shown
to its exact size, with the outer case detached, in Fig. 482. The
cases and dial are of gold ; it needs no key, but is wound from the
Fig. 4S3.
366
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
pendant, has a lever escapement, and is numbered 5102. It carries
an especially interesting association, for it was sold to Queen
Victoria on July 17th, 1838. The price was 4,250 francs.
A clock by Breguet, held aloft by a kneeling figure of bronze gilt,
is shown in Fig. 483. The clock has a chronometer escapement and
silver dials front and back. On the back is a calendar, the indicators
for which turn to the left, so that if viewed through a mirror the
actions appear to be right handed. It is ig inches in height.
The majority of. Breguet's watches had very plain exteriors, the
dials as a rule being either
of silver or white enamel,
while the cases were gene-
rally embellished with a
delightful kind of fine en-
gine turning which it was
a pleasure to see and to
handle ; his less costly
productions seemed to be
purposely devoid of all en-
richment. As an example,
one of his '■'■ souscription''
watches is here shown.
It was made in 1821, bears
the inscription " Breguet
et Fils," and cost ;^26.
The bezels and bow are of
gold and the body and
back of the case are silver.
It winds at the centre of
the dial and has an hour
hand only, though this is
of peculiar construction,
for beyond the part which indicates the hour is a fine prolongation to
reach the sub-divisions, w^hich are each a twelfth of an. hour, equal to
five minutes. With practice one could doubtless estimate the time
very closely in this way. It is said that the subscription watches
obtained their title from the combination of Breguet and certain of his
workpeople to produce a reliable watch at a moderate price. Many
of his watches had the signature Breguet scratched on the dial in
script, the characters being so very tiny as to be almost indistin-
guishable without a magnifier. His early watches, it may be
Breguet's " Subscription Watch."
Rccurch of liavly Makers, etc.
367
supposed, were not so marked, but I cannot ascertain when the
practice bej^an. In some instances tlie number of the watch
was on the pendant, but this again did not occur on all his
watches.
Mr. Lionel Faudel Phillips has a watcli by P)reguet in which the
balance pivots are carried between friction rollers, a plan tried by
Mudge in his marine chronometers.
Breguet was born at Neuchatel, Switzerland, in 1747, his parents
being of French origin. He
settled in Paris in early
m a n h o o d and (] u i c k 1 y
achieved success in busi-
ness. Beillard relates that
Marat, who also came fn)ni
Switzerland, and Breguet
were intimately acquainted^
and one night when they
met at a friend's house in
the rue Greneta, the popu-
lace under the windows
shouted, "Down with
Marat ! " The situation
becoming serious, Breguet
dressed Marat up as an old
woman and they left the
house arm in arm. Some
time after, when the guillo-
tine was set up " en per-
manence,'' Marat, finding
Breguet was in danger, gave
him a pass to Switzerland.
Breguet took a post chaise forthwith and reached Locle in safety.
He afterwards returned to Paris and died there in 1823, being suc-
ceeded in business by his son, Louis Antoine, who retired in 1833,
and was followed by his son Louis, a worthy grandson of Abraham L.
Although as an horologist Louis was overshadowed by the great-
ness of his grandsire, he established a reputation among electricians,
as well as among horologists, and timekeepers issued from the house of
Breguet during his administration were of the highest possible quality.
Equation Clocks. — To meet the perplexity caused by the fact
that sundials recorded true solar time and clocks mean solar time,
-^
,^■5
V-^a|."-
V
•■ — ^ » •»
bKi
S^
^- ^B
_~ -
Abraham Louis Breguet, 1747 — 1823.
368
Old Clocks and ]]'atchcf; and their Makers.
as explained on p. 2, equation dials to indicate the difference each
day were added in the latter part of the seventeenth century.
Foremost among the inventors of equation work must be mentioned
Joseph Williamson, whose paper in the Philosophical Transactions
is referred to on p. 291. As well as clocks to indicate the varia-
tion between solar and mean time, he appears to have arranged
mechanism to raise or lower the pendulum of a clock as required.
f::
rffo
j^ :^t^^ xt%-. ^#s
Fig. 484.
Fig. 484A.
in order that the hands might indicate true solar time, as in the
twelve-month timepiece at Hampton Court which bears Quare's
name. Figs. 484 and 484A are drawings of an equation clock by
iinderlin, which gives, in addition to true and mean solar time, a
perpetual day of the month, the sun's place in the zodiac, his rising
and setting, and the moon's age and phases.
Fig. 484 is the dial work, and Fig. 484A the dial itself. In Fig.
484 the wheel Q, of 24 teeth, takes its moiion from the striking part.
It impels the wheel R, of 32 teeth, with a vertical arbor, which has
a bend and compound joint T. This arbor has an endless screw, S,
Records of Early Makers, etc. 369
in the middle of the inclined half, turning -wheel A, of 487 teeth, and
also a pinion a, of 24 leaves, actuating a wheel V, of 32 teeth. This
last wheel revolves in 24 hours, a in 18 hours, and with it the arbor
R T S rt. Q revolves in 13 hours 30 minutes, and A in 8760 hours,
or 365 days 6 hours, whence it is called the annual wheel. The
wheel X, with 62 inclined teeth, and tlie wheel Z, with 90 teeth,
revoke separately round one common centre 5, Z being in front.
X is impelled by a tooth or pallet on the 24 hours arbor of the
wheel V, and Z by an endless screw Y. This screw has a pinion 6,
of 21 leaves, upon its upper end, and, impelled by the pinion a, turns
Z in 59 days i hour 30 minutes, being the sum of two lunations.
The wheel X is impelled one tootli every 24 hours, therefore an
entire revolution would be performed in 62 days : but it does not in
fact make more than one-half of a revolution when it jumps back.
The Equation Movement.— On the point D, in Fig. 484, the rack E
moves its tail c, resting on the circumference of the equation curve.
At 0 is a box with a spring, which keeps the cord 15 always
stretched. This cord surrounds a pulley on the plane of a concealed
wheel N, under K, but not attached to it. This wheel acts into
the rack which is always resting on the equation curve. The
pinion I, of 30 teeth, revolving in 60 minutes and carrying the
minute hand, turns the wheel K, of 60, which drives a pinion L,
of 30, also in 60 minutes. To L is attached a wheel H, of 48 teeth,
which turns a similar wheel F, and this again a third similar wheel
G, the tube of which surrounds the arbor of I, and carries the
equation hand with a little sun on it pointing to 30, in Fig. 484A.
The wheel N, below K, is pinned to a bar, which is not seen, but
which carries the wheel H and pinion L ; and as the teeth of the
rack are acting in the wheel N, the concealed bar moves alternately
towards I and 15 as the radius of the equation cam varies. This
motion makes the pinion L sometimes advance and sometimes retro-
grade a few teeth, independently of the motion it receives from the
rotation of K ; and this additional motion is also communicated to
the wheel H in consequence of its connection with L, and hence to
both F and G, the latter bearing the equation hand.
Altogether this is an interesting example of the mechanism of
early complicated clocks. The perpetual calendar work is now done
with more simplicity, in cases where such devices are demanded,
and the equation indicator of Tompion's Bath clock, of which a
description is also given, is actuated in a more direct way, as may be
seen from comparison.
c.w. B 3
370
Old Clocks and ]Vatchcs and their Makers.
Green's Lichfield Clock. — In the Universal Magazine for 1748 is
illustrated a singular clock with a peculiar outer case, about four feet
high, built in three tiers, and shown in Fig. 485. The early history
of the clock does not appear to be known, but at the date quoted it
belonged to Mr. Richard Green, of Lichfield.
The upper part represents a pavilion, whereon stands a brazen
statue of Fame. Within the pa\-ilion, in the centre, appears
Fig. 4S5. — Lichfield clock.
Pontius Pilate, having a basin of water before him, as washing his
hands ; and round him move continually three images, representing
our Savour as going to His crucifixion, the Virgin Mary, and Simon
the Cyrenian bearing the cross. These three last-mentioned figures
make one entire revolution every minute. The musical part of this
clock executed eight different tunes, any one of which it played
several times over every three hours, v.-ith provision also to play it
occasionally.
The outward case of this horological machine occupies the left of
Records of Early Makers, tic.
37^
the engravin-;-. It represents a highly decorated church tower of
('.othic architecture, with pinnacles, battlements, windows, mouldings,
.^1^
Fig. 480. — Bridges' clock.
images, buttresses, etc., admirably painted and well carved. This
perspective view of the outward case is so contrived that no part of
the inner structure but the dial appears to view, except the front of
this case (which consists of an upper and lower door) is thrown
open. The clock may be then taken out, appearing then as is shown
B B 2
372 Old Clacks and Watches and their Makers.
on the right of the engraving, and placed on the table or elsewhere.
The height of the outside case is 5 ft. 2 in.
Henry Bridges. — Henry Bridges, who lived at Waltham Abbey,
and was brought up as an architect, seems to have obtained a greater
reputation abroad than at home as the producer of clocks with
motions representing the heavenly bodies. The specimen of his
work delineated in the accompanying figure was publicly exhibited in
about 1770 by Edward Davis, who wrote a pamphlet describing it.
It is a monumental clock ten feet high and six feet broad at the base.
Within the pediment at the top of the structure is a scene represent-
ing the Muses on Parnassus ; this changes periodically to a forest
with Orpheus and wild beasts, which in its turn gives place to a
sylvan grove with birds.
On the upper large dial and the four small ones are indicated the
seconds, minutes, and hours ; the rising and setting of the sun ;
equation of time, the age phases of the moon, and signs of the
zodiac. On the lower of the large dials is exhibited the Copernican
system of time, consisting of se\'enteen bodies, the sun being in the
centre and the planets moving round it. On a panel below are a
landscape and the sea with representations of moving persons and
vessels, and on a second panel men at work in a carpenter's yard.
These automata were very popular, and quite suited to the taste
of the period. Besides these, the edifice contained an organ, which
was played at intervals. Altogether there were, it is stated, over a
thousand wheels and pinions in the composition of the mechanism.
It is remarkable how little is to be gathered respecting Henry
Bridges among English horological records. Dubois says he was
clockmaker in the court of Charles I., and that the identical clock
illustrated on p. 371 was made for the Duke of Buckingham. But
this account cannot be accepted, for seconds and minute hands were
not usual in the time of Charles I. The wig and dress of Bridges,
are of the style in vogue at the beginning of the eighteenth century,
and we may conclude that this was about the period he flourished.
In the Ashmolean Museum is a copy of the print from which
Fig. 486 is taken and it is dated 1734.
Lovelace's Exeter Clock. — Jacob Lovelace was born in the
city of Exeter, where, in 1766, at the age of sixty, he ended his days
in great poverty, having been thirty- four years engaged in constructing
the monumental clock shown in the accompanying engraving. The
mechanism is enclosed in an elegant cabinet ten feet high, five feet
wide, and weighing half a ton, ornamented with Oriental figures and
Records of Early Makers, etc.
373
finely executed paintings, bordered by richly carved fretwork. The
movements are: i . A moving panorama descriptive of Day and Night.
Day is represented by Apollo in his car drawn by four spirited
coursers, accompanied by the twelve liours ; and Diana in her car drawn
by stags, attended by the twelve hours, represents Night. 2. Two
<rilt fiefures in Roman costume, who turn their heads and salute with
Fig. 487. — Lovelace's clock.
their swords as the panorama revolves, and also move in the same
manner while the bells are ringing. 3. A perpetual almanack,
showing the day of the month on a semicircular plate, the index
returning to the first day of every month on the close of each
month, without alteration even in leap years, regulated only once
in 130 years. 4. A circle, the index of which shows the day of the
week, with its appropriate planet. 5. A perpetual almanack,
374 ^^^^ Clocks and Watches and ihciv Makers.
showing the da}S of the month and the equation of time. 6. A
circle showing the leap year, the index revolving only once in four
years. 7. A timepiece that strikes the hours and chimes the
quarters, on the face of which the whole of the twenty-four hours
(twelve day and twelve night) are shown and regulated ; within
this circle the sun is seen in his course, with the time of rising and
setting, by an horizon receding or advancing as the days lengthen
or shorten, and under is seen the moon, showing her different
quarters, phases, age, etc. 8. Two female figures on either side of
the dial-plate, representing Fame and Terpsichore, who move in
time when the organ plays. 9. A movement regulating the clock
as a repeater, to strike or to be silent. 10. Saturn, the god of Time,
who beats in movement when the organ plays. 11. A circle on the
face shows the names of eight celebrated tunes played by the organ
in the interior every four hours. 12. A belfry wdth six ringers,
who ring a merry peal. The interior of this part of the cabinet is
ornamented with beautiful paintings, representing some of the
principal ancient buildings in the city of Exeter. 13. Connected
with the Organ is a bird organ, which plays when required.
Beside the dial is the inscription, " Tern pus reritm Iinpcratov.'"
According to an advertisement in ihe Flying Post, ]u\y ^t\\, 1821,
this clock was about to be publicly exhibited ; and in the same
publication for September 8th, 1831, it was announced that " Love-
lace's celebrated clock," which for several years was in the collection
of Mr. James Burt, had the previous week been sold by auction for
680 guineas by the noted George Robins.
At the International Exhibition, 1851, it was a prominent feature
in the Western Gallery. It then belonged to Mr. Brutton, who
had it put in order by Mr. Frost, of Exeter, after it had been
deranged for some years. In 1888 a suggestion in the Exeter Press
that the clock should be purchased for the Imperial Institute, resulted
in nothing, and it was afterwards acquired for the Liverpool Museum,
where it remains.
James Cox and h',s Perpetual Motion Clock. — By favour of
Mr. George Ellis I a i enabled to reproduce an engraving of a self-
winding, or as the inventor termed it, " a perpetual motion " clock,
which now belongs to Mr. \\\ F. B. Massey-Mainwaring, M.P., and
is deposited at the Horological Institute. The energy for keeping
the mechanism in motion was obtained by changes in the pressure of
the atmosphere. What at first sight seems to be a huge pendulum
is an ornamental glass jar of mercury, suspended from chains. Into
Records of Early Makers, etc.
375
tliis is dipped a tuhe of niercurv, also Ininj^' from chains, open at its
lower end, aiul witli a
lar<,a' hulli at its up}X'r
extremity. W'itli in-
creased atmosplieric
pressure a little of the
mercury in the jar
would be forced into
the tube. The jar and
tubes were balanced by
weights, so that the
tube being a little
hea\'ier by the addition
of mercury, would fall
a little, and in so doing
would raise the weiglit ;
and with a fall in the
pressure of the atmos-
phere, the mercury in
the jar would be in-
creased and the weight
would be raised a little.
There is no pendulum,
but the escapement,
which is at the back of
the dial, is controlled by
a straight bar balance.
Wherever possible, the
rubbing surfaces w^ere
jewelled with diamonds
to reduce the friction.
The clock which is over
seven feet in height was
constructed by James
Cox, who resided for
some time in Shor
Lane, and really de-
voted his life to the
production of mechan-
ical curiosities, very
much in the style of those devised by Grollier de Serviere.
Fig. 4SS. — Cox's perpetual motion.
Cox
376 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
obtained an Act of Parliament in 1773, authorising him to dispose
of his museum by means of a lottery, and for some months his
conceptions formed an exhibition at Spring Gardens, where half-a-
guinea admission for each person was charged. It was stated
in an advertisement that the perpetual motion would occupy the
centre of the room. The following certificate was appended to the
advertisement : —
" Sir, — I have seen and examined the above described clock, which is kept
constantly going by the rising and falling of the quicksilver, in a most extra-
ordinary barometer; and there is no danger of its ever failing to go, for there is
always such a quantity of moving power accumulated as would keep the clock
going for a year, even if the barometer should be quite away from it. And,
indeed, on examining the whole contrivance and construction, I must with truth
sa}', that it is the most ingenious piece of mechanism I ever saw in my life.
"James Ferguson.
"Bolt Court, Fleet Street,
" Jan. 28th, 1774."
The awarding of the various prizes to subscribers of the lottery took
place in June, 1775. Mason, a rhymester of the time, thus refers to
one of his exhibits : — ■
" Great Cox, at his mechanicall,
Bids orient pearls from golden dragons fall ;
Each little dragonet, with brazen grin,
Gapes for the precious prize, and gulps it in.
Yet, when we peep behind the scene,
One master wheel directs the whole machine;
The selfsame pearls, in nice gradation, all
Around one common centre, rise and fall."
Another of his " perpetual motion " clocks, which was really to be
kept going by the opening and shutting of the door of the room in
which it was contained, was for some years on view at the
Polytechnic in Regent Street.
Apart from his mysterious mechanism. Cox was an accomplished
horologist. I saw a large travelling watch by him, belonging to Mr.
William Johnson, in which everything was well proportioned and of
the best execution. A chime clock of his make, in an ormolu case
with allegorical figures surmounted by a lion holding the arms of
England and a miniature of dancing bacchanals by Degault below
the dial, fetched ;^86i at the Hamilton sale in 1882.
Horstmann's Self-winding Clock. — In a self-winding clock
invented by the late Gustave Horstmann, of Bath, the expansion
and contraction of a liquid are used to wind the clock. A strong
metal vessel, A in the figure, is filled with an easily expanding fluid,
such as benzoline, mineral naphtha, etc. Connected to this vessel by a
strong tube with a very small bore are a cylinder and piston, B and C,
Records of Early Makers, etc.
377
W^MMMk
Ow'wvj, to the fact tluit most expandinn^ fluids are incapable of
dri\in<^ a piston, bcinj^^ too \olatile and thin, the cylinder and tube
are charged witli a tliicker and more lubricating fluid, sucli as
glycerine. The vessel containing the expanding fluid is on a higher
elevation than the piston and cylinder. This is done to prevent them
mixing, as benzolinc is lighter than glycerine, and, therefore, rises to
the top. It is easy now to see how that when the temperature
rises, the expanding liquid will force the piston upward, and, by
means of a slight counterforce, the piston will
fall on the temperature lowering.
The piston terminates in a cross-bar, to each
end of which is attached a steel ribbon like a
wide watch mainspring. These two bands are
brought down over pulleys at D, fixed on each
side of the cylinder, and then carried direct
to the winding mechanism, E, of the clock,
which is all fixed on the back of the case and
independent of the mo\ement. The two bands
join into one a little before they reach the
winding. A large pulley, E, is fitted on a stud
at the back of tlie case, and is driven by means
of a ratchet and click. The pulley E has a
flat groove, and is studded with short pins at
equal distances apart, over which works a
long steel ribbon perforated with oblong holes.
This chain passes down through the weight
pulley F, which also has a flat groove, but no
pins, and is carried over the main wheel pulley
G, which is supplied with pins, the same as
the winding pulley. It then passes under the pulley of the counter-
weight H, and is then joined to its other end, thus forming an
endless chain. As the piston falls a coiled spring causes the smaller
pulley at the top of the case to turn independently of E, and to
coil the band J on to itself, ready for the next rise of temperature.
Fan or "Windmill Clocks. — Fans actuated by currents of air
have been from time to time used as motors for actuating time-
keepers. One, by Lepaute, is in the Louvre, Paris. In Dardenne's
more recent patent the weight is wound up by the current of air in a
chimney acting upon the blades of a fan, which is stopped by a self-
acting brake as soon as the weight nears the top of its course,
Fig. 4S9.
( 378 )
CHAPTER VI.
FRENCH CLOCKS AND CASES IN THE FRENCH STYLE. OTHER CURIOUS
TIMEKEEPERS.
Beyond the examples which have already been given little need be
said respecting French horology of the sixteenth and first half of the
seventeenth century. Of the early French clockniakers, Julian
Couldray (or Couldroy) is mentioned as having, in 1529, received
from I'rancis I. xlix. livres iv. sols for 2 " monstres d'orloge"
without weights. The same king, in 1531, caused to be paid to his
" orlogeur " a sum of 50 ecus (ducats) for taking in hand a " monstre
d'orloge." The term " monstre d'orloge " seems to have been
generally used to designate a chamber clock up to about the middle
of the seventeenth century. Henry HI. of France ordered Gilbert
Martinot to make 2 " monstres," viz., a large round one to place in the
apartment of the said " Seigneur" (the king), and another vertical clock
with columns, which latter " hys majestie " had promised to the Bastard
of Orleans, of both of which "hys majestie" had agreed the price.
After the introduction of the pendulum, the term horloge appears
to have been dropped so far as clocks for domestic use were
concerned, and the title of " pendule " substituted.
Paris Guild. — According to Savary, a corporate body of clock-
makers was established about 1453, but the first statute of
incorporation appears to have been granted by Francis I. in
1544, on the petition of Fleurent Valleran, Jean de Presles, Jean
Pantin, Michel Potier, Anthoine Beauvais, Nicholas Moret, and
Nicolas le Contandois. The enactment decreed that no one, of
whatever station, if he has not been admitted as a master, should
make, or cause to be made, clocks, alarums, watches, large or
small, or any other machine for measuring time, within the said
town, city, and precinct of Paris, on pain of forfeiture of the said
works. There were provisions for the regulation of apprentices, and
for the appointment of officers to enfoice the powers conferred on
the Corporation, very similar to the privileges accorded to the
London Clockmakers in 1630. Upon the entry into Paris of
FrcncJi Clock <^ and Casa in tlic French Slylc, etc. 379
Fig, 490.
Fig. 491,
380 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Fig.
49? •
Fig. 493.
French Clocks and Cases in the Frcncli Style, etc. 381
Henri II., ten " orlogeurs " formed part of tlie procession composing
the crafts. The Paris Clockmakers had their statute varied in 1554
under Henri II., in 1572 under Charles IX., and in 1600 under
Henri I\'. In 1646, under Louis XIV., their laws were thoroughly
revised, and it was ordained that apprenticeship should be for eight
Fig. 494.
Fig. 495.
Fig. 496.
years, after which the apprentice could leave the employer, but
subject only to the approval of his master, and that of the master of
the Company. In i6gi was issued a regulation declaring that an
apprentice was not qualified for membership, i.e., for submitting a
master w^ork, until he had attained the age of at least 29 years. The
number of msmbers was limited to 72, of which only six could
be admitted without qualifying. Special privileges were accorded to
38:
Old Clocks and Jl'aichcs ar.d their Makers.
sons of members, a fact which perhaps accounts for so many successive
generations of a particular family following the craft. Widows
could continue the business of their husbands, and enjoyed the same
privileges. Artisans who practised their trade in districts administered
by the king, the lord of the manor, the church, or the princes of the
Fig. 497.
blood, claimed exemption from control of the Guild. The districts
where this immunity existed were : the Cloistre Parvis of Notre
Dame, the Court of the Church of Saint Benoit, the enclosures of
Saint Denis de Chartres, Saint Jean de Latran, Saint Martin des
Champs, Saint Germain de Pres ; also the Rue de Lourcine (because
subject to Saint Jacques de Latran), the Courts of the Temple and
of the Trinity, and the Faubourg Saint Antoine. The work pro-
Frcncli Clocks mid Cases in the Frciuh Slylc, c!c. j,^^
duced in these quarters was generally considered to be of an inferior
order unless executed by a craftsman who had voluntarily joined the
Corporation. To the pri\ileged places einunerated liave to be added
Fig. 49S.
Havaid Dictionnaivc dc rAnicidlenient,
those where work was carried out for the king or the state, such as
the Galeries du Louvre. The Associated Clockmakers appear to
have governed the trade till the revolution of 1789, when all the
guilds were abolished.
3S4
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Alfred Franklin, in " La Vie Privee D'Autrefois," says the
Martinets and Bidaults for a century and a half occupied lodgings
in the Louvre, reserved by the king for distinguished artists. In
1712 Louis XIV. had for clockmakers Louis Henri Martinot,
i^/TcT'y'Z'
Fig. 499.
Havard Dictionna'.re de I'Autcublcmcnt.
Augustus Francis Bidault, and Jerome Martinot. They were
engaged by the quarter, received 395 livres for salary, dined at the
Castle, at the table of the Gentlemen of the Chamber, and had the
right of entry to the king's presence along with the distinguished
members of his household. Every morning, during the dressing of
Vrcuch Clocks and Cases in the French Slylc, etc. 385
s
'^.<
Fig. 500
Schloss collection.
C.W.
c c
386 Old Clocks and ]Vatches and their Makers^
Fig. 501.
Timepiece by Lepaute.
Fig. 502.
Clock by Julien Le Roy.
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 387
the king, the horologist on duty wound up and properly adjusted the
watches which his Sovereign was about to wear.
^■■HSHaaiiiaMiHiiiiiiittidHjliliH
Fig. 503.
Fig. 504.
Towards the end of the seventeenth century decorative art in
France underwent a remarkable change, and cases of " Pendules
c c 2
388
Old Clocks and ]]^atchcs and tlicir Makers.
d'appartement," or chamber clocks, were produced in harmony with
the extravagant demand for more sumptuous furniture of all kinds.
Fig. 505.
Eminent artists and designers vied with each other in ministering to
the pronounced taste for novelty of form and style. J. Berain,
Jacques Caffieri, BouUe and Marot were among the most noted of
those engaged in horological coverings. As will hz seen, some of the
Fycnch Clocks and Cm^cs in ihc FvcncJi Style, etc. 389
earlier desij^ns were rather liea\y and formal. The ornamentation con-
sisted of masks, escutcheons, shields, and other attributes of the style
hitherto in \ogue, the structure in many instances being surmounted by
Fig. 506.
a representation of Father Time with his scythe, or Minerva helmeted
and holding a lance, or warriors, ancient or mediaeval, and occasionally
a cupid or nude female figure. Flatterers of Louis XIV. likened
him to the sun, and it will be noticed that pendulums and other
parts of many clocks produced during the latter part of his reign
390
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
were decorated with the face of Phoebus. But in the closing days
of Louis XIV. the comparatively stiff and sedate outlines gave place
to freer and more coquettish forms, and the traditional masks, etc.,
to Rocaille or " Rococo " decoration.
Rocaille is, strictly speaking, a style of ornamentation which
Fig. 507.
obtains its effects from the kingdom of shells, but the products of
luxurious vegetation, such as palms and other leaves, were also put
under contribution, blended and twisted to produce a fanciful con-
fusion of curves and spirals. To make the eccentricity more marked,
designers, borrowing an idea from the Chinese, perversely strove to
r'rcucJi Clocks and Cases in the FrencJi Style, etc.
391
obtain originality in their conceptions by the avoidance of symmetry,
tliough it must be confessed that in some instances the judicious
incorporation of well posed figures and groups from the pictures of
Fig. 508.
Watteau and other celebrated artists produced effects sufficiently
beautiful to quite atone for the outre character of the surroundings.
Like many other fashions, the Rocaille style degenerated. It lost
favour, and was done to death by the grotesque forms and unmeaning,
contemptible decoration which characterises so many works executed
392
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
during the latter part of the reign of Louis XV, Such mad travesty
caused a reversion during the reign of Louis XVL to simpler and
more symmetrical designs.
Fig. 509.
Boulle or Buhl Work. — Charles Andre Boulle, who was born
at Paris in 1642, became celebrated there as a chaser and inlayer.
In 1672, Louis XIV. allotted to him rooms at the Louvre, and his
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 393
effective inlay work of metal, usually brass and tortoiseshell or turtle-
shell, speedily became the fa\oured decoration for furniture of all
kinds. He died in 1732.
Boulle work for clock cases
and pedestals continued
popular in France through-
out the eighteenth century,
and in a lesser degree here,
where the title became cor-
rupted into "Buhl." In
some instances the natural
tint of the shell would ap-
pear. In others the shell
would be painted on the
back, red or black, according
to the effect desired by the
designer. Then by way of
contrast the arrangement of
the materials used was
A'aried in different parts of
the same object ; for in-
stance, if on the front the
outline was of shell, with a
design inlaid with metal,
the sides or perhaps panels
elsewhere would be decor-
ated with the counterpart or
" counter," that is, the out-
line would be metal and
the inlay shell. " Counter "
or metal outline, though
often effective, is considered
to be an inferior production.
The particularly hand-
some Louis XIV. clock and
slender pedestal shown in
Fig. 490 are in the Council
Chamber at Windsor Castle. Fig. 510.
Together they stand over
seven feet in height, and are decorated with red shell and white
metal Boulle work, relieved with ormolu mounts sharply chased,
394
Old Clocks and IWitchcs and their Makers.
The pendulum of the clock is seventeen inches long, descending
below the clock case into the pedestal. The upper panel of the
latter is hinged to afford
access for regulation. This
and several other engrav-
ings of the clocks at Wind-
sor Castle are reproduced
from photographs taken for
me by Mr. J. H. Agar-
Baugh.
A plainer but very effec-
tive pedestal, supporting a
calendar clock as repre-
sented in Fig. 491, is in
the corridor at Windsor
Castle. The surface is
Boulle work of black shell
and brass.
Another choice example,
in the Rubens room, appears
as in Fig. 492. The front
surface is brown shell inlaid
with brass, the covering of
the sides being in counter-
part. The clock case has
sphinx corner supports of
ormolu and a domed top
surmounted by a figure of
Time. At the base of the
case the three Fates are
represented. The hour
numerals are on plaques of
enamel. Through the glazed
part of the front below the
dial may be seen the pen-
dulum and the inside of the
back of the case, which is
Pj(-_ -jj covered with inlay in
counterpart. The style of
this clock, apart from the pedestal, was long in favour with French
manufacturers.
Frcncli Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc.
395
In the Wallace collection is a clock by Mynuel, with case and
pedestal by Boulle of nearly the same period, and bearinj^f a general
resemblance to Fig. 492. They
were purchased in 1863 for
/"GjOoo. The clock is sup-
ported on figures of fantasti-
cally costumed w-arriors with
their accoutrements, and on its
summit is a statuette of Cupid
shooting. On the upper part
of the pedestal is a medallion
representing Hercules relieving
Atlas of the burden of the
Globe.
A clock and pedestal of the
same dimensions, and nearly
identical in design, is in the
Biblioth^que de 1' Arsenal at
Paris. Another of the same
type is in the collection at
Waddesdon Manor. The
splendid pedestal clock shown
in Fig. 493 was at the Palais
du Louvre, Paris.
Many of the best designs of
the Louis XIV. period were by
Daniel Marot, who was born
in Paris in 1660. By the revo-
cation of the Edict of Nantes
he was driven to England, but
in 1702 took up his abode in
the Netherlands. Appended
are some examples from a
collection of his works pub-
lished at Amsterdam in 171 2.
In this book he was described as
" Architecte de Guillaume III.,
Roy de la Grande Bretagne." Pj^- .^2.
Fig. 494 by him does not show
the minutes ; it has an hour hand and a hand for pointing to the day
of the month on a circle outside of the hours. Fig. 495, also by
39^
Old Clocks and IVatches and their Makers.
Marot, has a minute indicator, and may be of a slightly later period.
Fig. 496, though very much
in the style of the Windsor
Castle brass inlay clocks, is
of more recent date.
Figs. 497, 498 and 499 are
bracket or table clocks, by
Marot. The superbly de-
signed specimen shown in
Fig. 497 is really perfect.
An interesting bracket
clock, with complicated
mo\'ements, in a case inlaid
with white metal and brass
Boulle work, dating from
about 1 690-1 7 10, is shown
in Fig. 500. At the top of
the dial plate is engraved
the motto " Nee pluribus im
. par," the first two words
preceding and the second
two following a representa-
tion of the sun. At the foot
of the dial plate is the in-
scription " Henricus Mar-
tin ot, motum adjunxit.
Pouilly Inventor Fecit
Parisis." Henry Martinet
was Chief Clockmaker to
Louis XIV., having lodgings
in the Louvre, and on the
plinths oi the two columns,
which are prominent features
of the dial plate, is the doubled
initial of the King, L. L.,
interlaced and reversed, sur-
mounted by a crown. This
treatment, coupled with the
fleur de lys ornament formed
by the Boulle work of the case, led to the conclusion that the clock
was made for Louis XIV., possibly for presentation to some
Fig.
5I3-
Frciuli Clocks and Cases in the FrcncJi Style, etc. 397
Fig. 514.
distinguished person. Tlie dial circle, supported by a figure of
Saturn, shows hours and minutes, besides which appear, through
seven openings within the circle, sunrise, sunset, the length of the
398 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Prciich Clccks and Cases in the I'rciicli Siylc^ ck\ 399
day, the length of the night, the month of the year, and certain
events of the year as they occur.
Fig. 518.
Above the centre of the dial are eight tablets, and below the centre
four more. These contain each the title of a month, with a number
arranged in a peculiar way, thus : April 2 ; July 5 ; September 7 ;
400
Old Clocks and ]Vaichcs and their Makers.
December lo ; June 4 ; February 12 ; March i ; November g. These
are the eight upper ones, the four below, arranged in a cruciform
frame, are August 6 ; May 3 ; January 1 1 ; and October 8. Under-
neath a fleur de lys, en-
graved over the words
" Premiers jours du mois,"
points direct to the figure 8
of the month of October.
On each side of the dial
centre is engraved an oval
border within which, show-
ing through curved slits, are,
on the left the age of the
moon, and on the right the
days of the month ; the title
of each day is engraved on
the plate in each case, and
on the right are also
allegorical figures to repre-
sent the days.
The shafts of the columns
already referred to are slit,
and each has a pointer
which travels from top to
bottom during the space of
one year. On the plate,
beside the left-hand column,
at equal distances are enu-
merated the months of the
year, and on the corre-
sponding space at the other
side are the following twelve
annual notes — Nombre d'or,
Cicle solaire, Epacte, Indi-
cation romaine, Lettre
dominical, Jours de cendres,
Pasques, Rogations,
Ascencion, Pentecoste, Festes Dieu, Premier Dimanche des Adiients.
Below the figure of Saturn are two apertures, and an inscription
underneath denotes the purpose to be to indicate the eclipse of the
sun and moon.
Fig. 519.
1-rcnch Clocks and (\iscs in the French Style, etc. 401
rouilly seems to have been a man especially ini^enious in de\-isinf^'
calendars and the like. He is referred to in the Paris Directory for
i6gi as " Le Sieur Pouilly, of Rue Dauphine, mathematical instru-
ment maker and seller of a peculiar calendar." In 1692 is mentioned
in connection with him an invention relating to the compass and
an extraordinary microscope.
Another scientihc instrument maker (" ingenieur "), the Sieur
Fig. 520.
Fig. 521.
Haye, collaborated with Martinot in the production of a movable
sphere, which was presented to the King in 1701. Henry Martinot
died at Fontainebleau in 1725 at the age of 79.
In the corridor at Windsor Castle is the fine long-case clock by
Julien Le Roy illustrated on page 386. The dial has a brass centre
with silvered border, and shows solar and mean time and the day
of the month. The escapement is a modification of the Graham,
c.w. D D
402
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
each pallet being pivoted separately. On the dial is inscribed
" Invente en 1736 par Julien Le Roy, de la Societe des Arts."
The case is of kingwood inlaid with some lighter veneer to an
angulated design and carries heavy ormolu well -chased mountings.
A companion case in the corridor contained a clock by Ferdinand
Fig. 522.
Berthoud, but the movement has been reconstructed by Vulliamy
and the dial altered.
On page 386 is shown a superb twelve-month timepiece by
I-epaute, which adorns the Zuccarelli room at Windsor Castle.
The movement is exceedingly well made, and has a very light pin-
wheel escapement furnished with pins on one side only. The
pendulum beats seconds, and is compensated on Harrison's " grid-
iron " principle. The dial, of enamel, is very fine, and the lower
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 403
404
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers
FrcncJi Clocks and Cases in tJic rrcncJi Style, etc. 405
edge of it bears in tiny characters the signature " G. Merler."
Besides the hour and minute indicators, which still exist, there was
originally a centre seconds liand and one for showing the equation
of time. The month and day of the month appear through a slit in
the lower part of the dial. There are no winding holes, the weight
being raised on Huygens' plan, by pulling down the rope. The case
is of ebony, relieved with exceptionally fine ormolu mountings. The
Baroness Burdett Coutts has a similar timepiece, also by Lepaute.
Among French artists with wealthy patrons the formal square
long case so characteristic of English clocks, was never liked. As
examples of their best style may be quoted the elegant regulator
shown in Fig. 503, which is at the Conservatoire des Arts et
Metiers, Paris, and the equally meritorious design on the same page.
Fig. 504. Lepaute's clock shown on page 386, and the more florid
design which encloses Julien le Roy's work as shown beside it are
also worthy of reference. In the series of bracket clocks, Fig. 505 to
Fig. 514, arranged nearly in the order of date, every specimen
contains, I think, some feature of excellence.
Hanging or "Cartel" Clocks. — The word Cartel, probably
from the Italian Ccwtcla, a bracket, seems, during the seventeenth
century, to ha\ e been applied to any ornament, frame, or other
object fixed against a wall or ceiling and having a shape more or
less rotund or oval with elongated or pointed ends. The intense
desire for fresh forms in articles of furniture which permeated
French society during the latter part of the reign of Louis XIV. led
to the production of the " Pendule a Cartel" or "en cartel," a title
subsequently contracted to simply " cartel." The carte! cases were
made occasionally of wood, lead, or zinc, but more often of bronze,
thickly gilt. As may be gathered from the examples I am able to
illustrate, they were, as a rule, graceful in form and, when oxidation
had toned down the somewhat obtrusi\'e garishness of the gilding, of
\'ery pleasing appearance.
Small clocks of the same shape and of a size to be easily fastened
on the inside of the bed curtain, were designated Cartels dc
Chcvet. They were generally furnished with watch mo\'ements, the
cases being of brass or of wood with Vernis Martin or other decora-
tion, though large cartel clocks with pull strings for repeating were
occasionally placed inside the bed against the hangings or wall, for
the convenience of those French ladies who, in accordance with
accepted custom during the earlier half of the eighteenth century,
held receptions while reclining on their beds.
4o6
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
French Clocks and Cases in the Frencli Style, etc. 407
In Fig. 516 is sliown a mural clock of Louis XIV. period by
J. Thuret, Paris, which belonged to the Marquess of Hertford.
The panels are filled with
Boulle work which sets off
and subdues the ormolu
mountings. Side by side
with it are two nearly
contemporary designs.
Cartel timepieces were
in especial favour through-
out the time of Louis XV.
A representation is given
in Fig. 518 of a Rocaille
Cartel clock in the Cafiieri
style dating from about
1 760. It is of medium size,
measuring 2 feet in length
and 14 inches across the
widest part. Themovement
is by Courtois, clockmaker
to Louis X\'., who had pre-
mises in the Rue Saint
Jacques, facing the College
du Plessis, and acquired a
reputation for the excellence
of his movements, both
silent and musical. There
is a pull string for repeating
on two bells, it strikes the
hours and half hours, also
an alarum. The case of
bronze gilded is boldly
chased, and the modelling
of the figures is exceedingly
good. Pierrot and Pierrette
appear to enjoy life among
fantastical vegetation and
scrolls, so popular during
the epoch of Louis XV.
The mandoline player at the top is well posed and of pleasing expres-
sion. Hardly so large and of perhaps ten years later date is another
Fig. 529.
Astronomical clock by Passement
at Versailles.
Havard Dictionnairc de V Ametiblement.
4o8
Old Clucks and Watches and their Makers.
specimen, also of bronze, chased, and gilt, which is shown in Fig. 519.
Below the dial is an aperture through which the vibrations of the
pendulum may be seen, and the design includes a female figure
and cupids, subjects
brought into favour by
Boucher and his
school. The detail of
the chasing is finer
than was usual with
an object to be ex-
hibited on a wall at
some distance from the
eye. Dial and move
ment bear the signa-
ture of "Thioutl'aine,
Paris." There are two
bells and a pull string
for repeating on them
the hours and quarters
at pleasure.
Fig. 520, a smaller
striking clock of later
date, indicates the
decline of the more
extravagant features
observed in some of
the rocaille designs.
An excellent cartel
clock of the Louis
X\ I. period, which
belongs to the Hon.
Gerald Ponsonby, is
shown in Fig. 521,
I may mention that
the movements of old
cartel clocks are in-
serted into the case
from the front. Ignorance of this has, I know, sometimes led to
damage by attempts to force the movements out at the back.
Mantel Clocks before the time of Louis XV. are exceptional.
When not supported by a long case or a pedestal or a bracket,
Fig. 530.
French Clocks and Cases in ilic Fvcncli Style, etc.
409
chamber clocks were luing to a nail on the wall. An early mantel
clock, which is in the Octagon room at Windsor Castle, is shown in
Fig. 522. The case is decorated with Boulle work and very fine
^^ <^^^
«
Fig. 531. Fig. 532.
ormolu mountings. A well-modelled Cupid surmounts the structure
and below the dial is an equally effective reclining figure of Time
holding a balance. Except the plinth, which is of later date, this
splendid clock is of Louis XIV. period. Plinth and clock together
are three feet hi^h.
41 o Old Clocks and IVatches and their Makers.
A characteristic example of design in the Louis XV. style is the
H^l)j^
Fig. 533 — Lyre clock, Sevres.
ormolu clock by " Gudin a Paris " at Windsor Castle, and shown in
Fig- 523. The chasing is bold, though somewhat coarse. The
Firitcli Clccks and Cases in the Frouh Style, etc. 41 1
^
'S
' • Ytefriji
N
"^.
^
^^
412
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 41 j
pierced diaper work below the dial is hacked with crimson silk with
good effect.
Another excellent specimen of the Louis XV. style is the drawling-
room clock represented in Fig. 524. The movement is by Etienne
la Noir, a noted clockmaker of the time, while the chasing has been
executed bv Saint Germain, \vho also probably did the casting of
Fig. 53S.
the model. Saint Germain was one of the small number of founders
and chasers of the period wdiose productions were characterised by
remarkable excellence of finish and lightness. Saint Germain stands
second only to Caffieri. He was frequently employed by, or on
behalf of, the King and the Court. His productions bear his full
name "punched" in the metal. The crafts of founder and chaser
were nearly always combined, forming an exception to the rule then
prevailing as to regulation of trades by corporations or companies.
414
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
No better example of the Louis X\'I. period could be selected
than the chaste and elegant boudoir or ante-room clock shown in
Fig. 525. It is of white polished marble, w^hich age has tinted to a
dark cream, with gilt mountings, the contrast harmonizing perfectly.
It dates from about 1780 and is by Robin, " horloger du Roy."
The splendid mantel clock showm in Fig. 526 in the Louis XVI.,
Fig. 539.
style is perhaps of a little later date, and well represents decorative art
during the last few years of the reign of that monarch. The beautifully
modelled cupids representing sculpture (adjacent to a completed
bust of Henri IV. of Navarre), music, dancing (or singing), and
painting appear to be nestling in clouds around a celestial sphere in
which the dial is placed. The plinth of white marble with rounded
ends contains a gilt frieze of trophies. It is 17^ inches in length
French Clocks and Cases in tlic French Style, etc
415
and 18 inches h'vj^h. 'J'he inoxenient is inscribed " L. J. Leguesse."
The gildin<; and chasing are excellent, the minutest details of the
bronze work being brought out in the style of a master artist. Here,
as in the last example, the association of white marble and bronze pro-
duces a most pleasing effect. These two clocks belong to Mr. Schloss.
Fig. 529 shows a celebrated clock in\ented by Passement and
Fig. 540.
constructed under his direction by Dauthiau, clockmaker to Louis XV.
Passement is said to have been engaged for twenty years in
calculating the various movements, and the construction of the
machine occupied Dauthiau for twelve years. It was completed in
1749, and in 1750 presented to the King, who ordered a new case for it,
after his own choice. This was made by Messrs. Caffieri (father and
son), and when finished in 1753, the clock was deposited at Versailles.
4i5
Old Clocks and M'afchcs and Ihciv Makers.
It has a dead-beat escapement and a seconds compensated pendulum;
indicates solar and mean time, has a seconds hand, strikes the
hours and quarters, and has provision for repeating at pleasure the
blows last sounded. The striking part is driven by a spring, and the
remainder by a weight of 22 lbs,, doubly suspended, which falls
8 inches in six weeks. Within a glass sphere over the clock are
marked the age and phases of the moon, days of the week,
Fig. 541
month and year correctly for a period of 10,000 years. Antide
Janvier repaired the clock for the First Consul.
As a curiosity in design, the timekeeper by Lepine, shown in
Fig. 530, is worthy of record. Hours and minutes are indicated on
two bands rotating horizontally, and there is a long pendulum which
terminates very effectively in a representation of the face of
Phoebus.
Front and back views of a most effective mantel clock by Ferdinand
Berthoud are given in F^gs. 531 and 532. The design as a whole is
excellent ; the primary object of a clock is to indicate the time, and
this point, which seems to have been too often ignored, has here been
French Clocks and Ca-^cs in the French Style, etc. 417
Fig. 542.
c.w.
E E
4i8
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
properly kept in view, and the elegant supporters in no way detract
from the due prominence of the dial which measures 9 inches
Fig. 543.
across, the whole structure being 3 feet 8 inches in height. The
plinth is of white marble, with bas-reliefs of cupids struggling for
vinei ; the Bacchantes are of dark-coloured bronze ; the vase with
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 419
overliaiiLnng leaves and i^rapes wliich surmounts the dial is
Fig. 544. — Porcelain case with mounts by Gouthiere.
gilded. Thus a charming combination of colour is obtained quite
worthy of the modelling and chasing, which are admirable.
E E 2
420
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
The design altogether is a good example of the return to simpler
and more reposeful forms suggested by Clodion and his school, in
place of the overdone and discredited rocaille. On the chased work
is a punch mark corresponding to P. C, which may possibly be that
of Pierre Cauvet, a celebrated modeller under Louis XVI., several of
whose productions are
in the collection of Garde
Meuble at the Louvre.
Lyre-shaped exteriors
were, it must be con-
fessed, among the most
elegant conceptions of
the Louis XVI. period.
From the example illus-
trated in Fig. 533, it will
be seen that the upper
part of the pendulum is
formed to represent the
strings of the instru-
ment ; the lower end,
shaped as a ring, passes
and repasses behind the
dial with very pleasing
effect. This clock, which
is among the Jones col-
lection at South Ken-
sington Museum, is said
to have belonged to
Marie Antoinette. The
case of Sevres blue
porcelain is 2 feet in
height, has ormolu
mountings, and the ring
of the pendulum being studded with large pastes enhances its very
handsome appearance. It bears the signature " Kinable." A some-
what similar clock realised £^62 at the Hamilton sale in 1882.
The Lyre clock shown in Fig. 534 is at Windsor Castle. The
dial is quite modern and bears the inscription, " Hanson, Windsor."
The blue Sevres vase clock shown in Fig. 535, in the Louis XVI.
style, affords another example of the fancies characterizing the latter
part of the eighteenth century.
Fig. 545. — Carriage clock of Marie Antoinette.
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 421
The very pretty example of Louis X\'I. style which is shown in
Fig. 536 is by VuUiamy, and graces one of the drawing-rooms at
Windsor Castle. On the ormolu slab above the dial is a drawing of
the fusee and demonstration of its action.
Fig. 537 is another specimen by the same maker, and is also at
Windsor Castle.
For the example shown in Fig. 538, dating from about 1790, I am
indebted to Mr. Robert Rolfe.
From about 1760 till well on in the nineteenth century, elegant
mantel clocks of marble and bronze, in which the dial depended from
a handsome entablature, were much favoured in France.
The two examples on pages 414-5, for which I am indebted to
Messrs. Jump & Sons, give a
good idea of the best of them.
Fig. 539 is a clock by Engaz,
of Paris, which shows the day
of the week and the day of the
month, on a dial bearing the
signature of Dubisson.
Fig. 540 represents a some-
what similar design covering
a clock by La Croix, rue Denis,
Paris.
Berthoud was apparently
partial to this form, judging
from the number to be seen
with his name thereon.
The clock with white marble base and sphinx supporters for the
dial, and shown in Fig. 541, by Sotian, Paris, is at Windsor Castle.
In Chap. III. were given illustrations of early German timekeepers,
in which figures of animals formed a most important part of the
structure. A revival of this extraordinary conception seems to have
found favour in France during the eighteenth century when huge
beasts were introduced as carriers for timekeepers.
The example illustrated in Fig. 542 is a clock by a noted
Paris maker, Bailly I'aine, dating from about 1769. It strikes the
hour and half-hour in passing, and its dial, as in most French
clocks of that period, stands out conspicuously. The occupants
of the ponderous castle are evidently engaged in warfare. The
elephant is of dark-coloured bronze, the remainder being chased and
richly gilt, while the Rajah, a coloured terra cotta figure, seated
Fig. 546.
422 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 423
inside the castle, complacently directs operations against the enemy.
A small hole between his lips suggests the possibility of his having
at one time a pipe in his mouth. In the Jones collection at South
Kensington is an elephant with a clock on its hack. It is signed by
Caffieri, and illustrated in Fig. 543.
Clock cases of porcelain were made
during the eighteenth century, chiefly at
Dresden and Sevres, though Berlin,
Worcester, Derby and Chelsea contri-
buted to the demand. Some of them
were very beautiful, especially French
productions of Louis XV. period, which
were decorated with figure subjects and
scenery taken from pictures by W'atteau,
Lancret, and other artists. But com-
paratively few survive, for, apart from
such accidents as lead to the destruction
of china generally, the fixing of a clock
movement to so brittle a material suffi-
ciently tight to withstand the strain of
winding is responsible for the fracture
of a large proportion.
Among the Jones collection at South
Kensington is a splendid clock in a case
of Sevres porcelain, formed like a vase,
with mounts by Gouthiere, which is
believed to have been made for Marie
Antoinette, and is shown in Fig. 544.*
Charming it certainly is, and beyond
criticism ; still, if one might be permitted
to complain, I would say it is too small,
too condensed ; it measures but about
12 inches in height.
The travelling or carriage clock be-
longing to the same royal lady, also in
the Jones collection, of which a sketch
appears in Fig. 545, has the dial, front, side and back panels, all of
Sevres porcelain, jewelled ; it is between 10 and 11 inches high. The
Fig. 549. — Clock in Windsor
Castle.
* The four illustrations of clocks in the Jones collection are from the Official
Handbook, and are inserted by permission of the Controller of His Majesty's
Stationery Office.
424
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
front panel bears the signature, " Robin H^i- du Roy," Though
undoubtedly of French make, the outline bears a singular resemblance
to English productions of the period.
The elegant lyre-shaped clock of Sevres, illustrated on page 410,
is another excellent example. A clock by " Godon, Paris," in a
vase-shaped case of Sevres porcelain of Louis XVI. period, which
was in Lord Strathallan's collection, realised two thousand guineas
at Christie's in 1902. A quaint clock case of Chelsea china is to be
seen at the British Museum.
From the middle to the end of the eighteenth century, the shops of
Fig. 550.
Fig. 551.
leading horologists in Paris were, it is said, a great attraction to visitors.
The earlier ones included Thiout I'aine, at the sign of " La Pendule
d'Equation," quai Pelletier ; Julien Le Roy, at rue de Harley, where
also was Berthoud ; Pierre" Regnault, p^re, rue Vielle ; Le Paute,
aux galeries du Louvres, opposite the rue Saint Thomas ; Lepine, and
also Romilly, place Dauphine ; Leroux, rue Guenegaud ; Gosselin,
rue St. Honore. Later on were Carcel, at Pont Saint Michel ;
Breguet, at quai d'Horloge, 65; Caron, rue Saint Denis, 224;
Lepaute jeune. Place du Palais-Royal ; Lepine, Place des Victoires ;
Pierre Le Roy, Palais-Royal ; and Wagner, at the sign of the Carillon,
Bout-du-Monde, 2.
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 425
Louis XVI. had from a youth a hking for the mechanical parts of
timekeepers, and Marie Antoinette possessed a hirge number of
choice specimens, notably those illustrated on pp. 419-20, but there
are in existence clocks and watches purporting to have belonged
to her, and having thereon M. A. interlaced, which were really made
between about 181 8 and 1830, when enthusiasm at the restoration of
the French monarchy induced people to pay high prices for any-
thing connected with the Court of Louis XVI. Watches apparently
of Swiss manufacture, the cases decorated with gold of difiFerent
Fig. 5^2.
tints (a quatre couleurs), as illustrated in Chap. IV., or with small oval
plaques containing enamelled portraits of ladies, bordered with
paste diamonds or pearls, and surrounded by engravings of bows and
knots, are often seen, with a pedigree of former ownership which will
not bear expert examination.
Undeterred by the failure of Sully's enterprise at Versailles in 171 8,
and the collapse of Voltaire's venture at Ferney sixty years after-
wards, the French Government in 1786, on the strong recommenda-
tion of Berthoud, Gregson, Romilly and Lepaute, established a
clock manufactory at Paris, which, however, had but an ephemeral
existence, for it succumbed to the stormy events of 1789. The
426
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
episode is little known, and might escape record but for the splendid
medal issued as a reward for meritorious pupils, the obverse of which
is reproduced on page 421. It was designed by Duvivier, engraver to
the Paris Mint, and contains a representation of Father Time journey-
ing round the periphery of a clock. The aphorism, " Le tems a pris
un corps et marche sous nos yeux," is a quotation from Delille. In
1838 yet another attempt was made in the same direction, and a
Fig. 553.
factory initiated at Versailles under the special protection of the King.
This also proved to be an ill-starred venture, for it languished almost
from its inception and collapsed in the course of three or four years.
With the return of Napoleon from Italy came a marked change
in the P^ench style of design. The soft harmonious conceits
of Louis XVI. artists gave place to more severe and statuesque
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 427
productions with heavy draperies, founded on ancient Roman models.
Characteristic specimens are illustrated in Figs. 547 and 548.
Fig. 549 shows a fine clock in the First Empire style, which is at
Windsor Castle. It is by Jefferson, London, and dates from about 1810.
Portable table or bedroom clocks, cased in the form of a drum, and
especially convenient to travellers, were in favour from the latter part
of the eighteenth century till, debased and shorn of all enrichment,
they degenerated both as
ornaments and timekeepers.
An example in the best style,
with well -chased gilt Fauns
as supporters, and surmoun ted
by an eagle holding a ring by
which the clock could be
lifted, is shown in Fig. 550.
It strikes the hours and
quarters, and the striking
may be repeated at pleasure
by pulling out the knob on
the back of the eagle ; it is
also provided with an alarum.
Table clocks with hori-
zontal dials were revived
during the First Empire. A
pretty specimen of gilt metal,
in which the movement is
enclosed by the base, is shown
in Fig. 551. It dates from
1806-10 and has but one
hand, which may be set by
turning one of the little
ornaments standing up from
the lower part of the case.
The band around the dial
is pierced to a pretty design. It strikes the hours and quarters.
Clocks with cases of a nondescript character, but abounding in
ormolu or gilt metal ornament so popular at the latter part of the
eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries, seem to have
entirely died out of favour. At Windsor Castle is a fine example
with a winged boy on each side of the dial, and a celestial globe and
mathematical instruments above it, as shown in Fig. 552.
Fig. 554.
428
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Fig. 553 shows a remarkably well modelled figure of a harlequin,
who is represented as drawing attention to the notes of the bird
peeping from an alcove above the dial.
Clock hands do not as a rule lend themselves to decoration
symbolical of a particular subject, but three pairs typical respec-
tively of Sport, Agriculture and Music which appear to be worth
reproduction are shown in Figs. 554-5-6. They are French, and
were, I believe, designed for presentation timekeepers.
It may be noted that up to the end of the eighteenth century
movements of the French chamber clocks were rectangular even
though the cases were circular, as in the example by Berthoud shown
I'"'^- 555 Fig. 556.
on page 409 ; the bell always surmounted the movement instead of
bemg at the back of it, as the modern custom is, and the pendulum
was suspended by means of a silken cord.
Adjuncts to a clock in the way of candelabra, tazzas or figures
en suite, were not in use till nearly the end of the reign of Louis XVI.
Italian Cartel Timepieces.— By way 6{ contrast to the French
treatment the two cartel timepieces shown in Figs. 557 and 558 will
be of interest. They are reproduced from designs by Giovanni
Battista Piranesi, which were published in 176 1. Fig. 558 is modelled
upon the form of an ancient Roman rudder, a conceit particularly to
the taste of that age. It will be noticed that each of the dials is
French Clocks and Cases in the Fvcncli Style, etc. 429
divided into six hours, in conformity with tlie countinj^ of the hours
in many parts of Italy at tliat time.
Falling Ball Timekeepers. — This remarkably clever and
elegant piece of seventeenth century mysterious horology consists of
a sphere of brass, to be suspended from a bracket, or the ceiling of a
room. The upper and lower portions of the ball are gilt, while around
Fig. 557.
Fig. 558.
a silvered band in the middle are marked two serials of Roman
numerals from I. to XII., and subdivisions for the quarter-hours.
The extremity of one of the wings of a cupid on the lower part of
the ball points to the hour of the day or night. The construction
may be gathered from the vertical and horizontal sections which are
given in Fig. 559, borrowed from " Les Merveilles de I'Horlogerie."
430
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
The suspending cord is coiled round a barrel, with which is connected
a train of wheels terminating in an escapement and balance. While
the top and bottom of the ball are rigidly connected, the middle is
free to move, and is furnished with a ring of teeth projecting inside,
through which the middle is rotated once in twenty-four hours, the
Fig.
559-
weight of the ball acting as a driving force. The mechanism is
wound by simply raising the ball with the hand, there being a weak
spring in the barrel, which causes it to turn and coil the suspending
cord on to itself.
At the British Museum are two of these falling ball timekeepers of
4 inches in diameter. One of them is inscribed "Jacob Behan,
Vienna." The Society of Antiquaries possesses a very fine example,
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 431
measuring 10 inches across, but of, I fancy, much later date. It
was given to the Society by B. L. Vulliamy.
Figs. 560 and 561 represent two of many timekeepers designed and
made by a truly remarkable mechanical genius, Nicolas Grollier,
afterwards M. Grollier de Servifere, who was born at Lyons in 1593,
and passed his early manhood in the service of the French army.
His later years he devoted
to designing all sorts of
mechanism, and, thus pro-
viding himself with ample
occupation, he managed to
reach the good old age of
ninety-three years.
These two drawings are
from a thick quarto book
written by his grandson, and
dedicated to Louis XIV.
In the first example a small
ball runs down inclined
shoots, and by its momentum
unlocks the train as it
reaches the bottom. There
are two balls, and as the
first disappears from view
the second one begins its
descent. The balls are, in
turn, carried up at the back
by a kind of tape ladder
with pockets, which passes
over a pulley at the top, and
another at the lower part
of the case.
Globes, Urns, and
Vases. — In the "Atlas"
timekeeper by Grollier de
Serviere (Fig. 561), the movement within the globe causes the
central band, on which the hours are marked, to revolve, the arrow
of course indicating the time. The upper and lower portions of the
globe are stationary.
A taste for revolving band timekeepers, formed as globes, urns and
vases, revived in France during the eighteenth century. The exteriors
Fig. 560.
432
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
of some of these were of very elegant design, as may be judged from
the examples submitted.
Fig. 562 shows a particularly attractive one dating from about 1780,
which is at the South Kensington Museum. The boys supporting
the globe are of bronze. The moving band contains two sets of
numerals painted blue on
enamelled plaques; the
lower set represents the hours
counted twice from I. to
XII., and the upper set
each fifteen minutes. The
tongue of the snake forms a
bar across each successive
hour numeral, as an indi-
cator, and reaching beyond
it, points to the minutes
also.
In tlie Throne room at
Windsor Castle is a globe
clock which has double re-
volving bands, Roman hour
numerals being marked on
one band, and on the other
Arabic figures to represent
the minutes. It is by
Maniere, of Paris, and
adorned with a well-exe-
cuted group, as in Fig. 363.
The ball, enamelled in royal
blue, forms a properly con-
spicuous centre, on each side
of which the statuettes are
arranged. The houris shown
by the coincidence of a
numeral with the brass vertical bar supporting the globe, while the
Destroyer is posed to indicate the minutes with his scythe.
The Wallace collection also includes more than one fine globe
clock with hour and minute revolving bands.
Fig. 564 represents a vase clock, which is said to have belonged
to Marie Antoinette. The movement was covered by a handsome
carved marble pedestal, the urn being of porcelain with bronze
Fig. 561.
Fi'Ciic/i Clocks and Cases in tlic French Style, etc. 433
mountings. A serpent coiled round the foot of the vase had its liead
erect to point to the hour on the double polygonal band.
Fig. 565 shows a larger urn or vase mounted on an elaborately
carved square plinth ; a somewhat similar clock by " Le Loutre,
horloger du Roy, Paris," realised ^"903 at the Hamilton sale in
1882.
In Fig. 566 is reproduced a magnihcent design l)y L'alconet,
wherein the Three Graces are
portrayed, one of whom indi-
cates the hour with her finger.
The vase is supported by a
column standing on a hand-
some plinth ; tlie panels of
the plinth show very choice
carvings of groups of children
at play. Etienne Maurice
Falconet, w'hose production of
this and some other clock cases
stamps him as an artist of the
front rank, was born in 17 16
and died in 1791, and seems
to have been more appreciated
after his death than before.
The Three Graces clock was
sold in the early part of the
nineteenth century for 1,500
francs, and in 1855 was pur-
chased for 7,000 francs by
Baron Double, whose collec-
tion was sold in 1881 when
Comte de Camondo secured
the Three Graces for 101,000
francs. His son, who is the
present owner, has, it is said,
refused an offer of over a
million francs for the treasure, which, in accordance with the wish
of his father, he will bequeath to the French nation.
Negress-Head Clock. — Among the eccentricities of French
horology is one at Buckingham Palace in the form of the head of a
negress, as shown in Fig. 567. Figures corresponding to the hours
appear in proper order in one of the eyes of the negress, the minutes
c.w. V F
Fig. 562.
434
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
being denoted in the other eye in a similar way. By closing the
eyelids the figures may be rendered invisible.
Rolling Clock. — This ingenious device appears to have been
patented by that universal genius the Marquess of Worcester, in
1661 (No. 131)- It was also made by Grollier de Serviere probably
about the same date. Maurice Wheeler published a description of
it as his invention in Lowthorp's " Abridgment of the Philosophical
Transactions in 1684." The construction of it will be understood
Fig. 563.
from the uncovered view of the front, Fig. 568. There is a train of
wheels and an escapement as in a watch. The great wheel a carries
the hand and also the weight h. The clock never requires winding.
It is every morning simply placed at the top of the inclined plane,
down which it gradually rolls during the day, the hand pointing to
the hour marked on the dial, which of course covers the mechanism.
The length of the plane had better be more than twice the circum-
ference of the clock case c. Its inclination may be regulated by the
French Clocks ami Cases in the French Style, etc. 435
screw g. The hand may be in the form of a figure of Time, as in
Fig. 569, a serpent's head, or otlier grotesque design.
Schmidt's Mysterious Clock. — The weighted lever of the
roUing clock, as shown in l'"ig. 568, has been utilised in another form
of mysterious timekeeper, an exterior view of which is given on
page 439. It was patented in 1808 (No. 3185) by John Schmidt, a
watchmaker, living in St. Mary Axe. He called it " The Mysterious
Circulator, or Chronological Equilibrium." The ring is divided into
hour and five-minute spaces. The watch movement, with the
weighted lever, is contained in the box,
c, but it is now driven by a mainspring
in the usual way. The hand is pivoted
to the tail of the dolphin, n is a counter-
weight. The weighted lever revolves
once in 12 hours ; it would be nearest
to the centre of motion of the hand at
12 o'clock, and furthest from it at 6
o'clock ; it is easy, therefore, to see
that by this displacement of the centre
of gravity the weighted lever would
cause the hand to revolve and point
to the time. It appears that Schmidt
was a Dane, who was taken prisoner
at Copenhagen, and brought to Eng-
land. The clocks were sold by Rundell
and Bridge, whose shop was in Ludgate
Hill. Several distinguished persons are
stated to have become purchasers.
Some years ago I saw one which bore
the name of McNab, Perth. It was
then in the possession of Mr. Robert Napier, but it now belongs to
Mr. Henry Levy.
This device has been several times re-invented, but never, I think,
in so elegant a form as the original.
Fan-shaped Clocks. — M. Planchon has an engraving of the
tutor to Charles, son of Phillippe II. of Spain, on which is shown a
timekeeper, the dial being composed of a double fan of white and
black slats which expanded and contracted to suit hours of varying
length in day and night throughout the year. This dates from
about 1570. Other forms of fan timekeepers have been con-
structed and should be mentioned as among horological curiosities.
F F 2
Fig. 564.
436
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
The illustration, Fig. 571, was published some time ago in La Nature.
The fan, composed Df thirteen very light slats, is pivoted to a
backing covered with velvet, and at six o'clock in the morning and
in the evening would be wide open as shown, and a serpent, fixed by
Fig. 5r,5.
Fig. 566.
its tail to the velvet, would point to the hour with its tongue. Imme-
diately after six o'clock the fan suddenly closes, the serpent still
pointing to six, but it would then be the figure on the right-hand side
of the fan. On a continuation of the joint of the fan is a pinion
actuated by a rack in connection with a snail-shaped cam, which
causes the fan to gradually open as the hours progress, and then
suddenly close.
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 437
Suspended Bird Cage. — This, from the Schloss collection, is
probably a combined I'rench and Swiss production of about 1780,
An enamelled dial with centre seconds hand projects below the
bottom of the cage, the actuating mechanism being hidden in the
Fig. 567. — Negress-head c'ock at Buckingham Palace.
plinth which is adorned with oval enamels of scenery in the Swiss
style. In niches at the corners are fine statuettes of Sevres biscuit.
At the completion of each hour the birds move, flutter and trill a sort
of duet, their actions and notes being remarkably natural. By
means of rotating pieces of glass, a double-fall fountain appears to
be playing in the centre. These motions can be caused to repeat at
438
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
pleasure by pulling a string. The few somewhat similar clocks
known to exist are highly prized by their owners. One not so
decorative as the example here shown is in the King of Italy's
summer palace at Monza.
Magnetic Timekeepers. — Grollier de Serviere devised a time-
keeper resembling a shallow bowl with a wide rim, having marked
Fig. 568.
thereon the twelve hour numerals, as in Fig. 573 ; the bowl being
filled with water, the figure of a tortois3 was placed on it and at once
floated round till it pointed to the time, and then gradually crept to
Fig. 569.
the figures in succession as the hours advanced. Underneath the
rim of the bowl was a magnet of the horseshoe type, which was
caused to revolve once in twelve hours ; the tortoise was of cork and
carried the "keeper" of the magnet. By the same agency he was
enabled to cause a lizard to ascend a column and a mouse to creep
along a cornice with the hours marked on the frieze below.
Congreve Clock. — William Congreve, best known as an inventor
French Clocks and Cases in llie French Style, etc. 439
of war rockets, was an ingenious mechanician, an officer in the
Royal Artillery, and a member of Parliament. In succession to his
father he in 1814 became a baronet and also Comptroller of the
Royal Laboratory at Woolwich. In 1808 he patented a timekeeper
in which a small metal ball rolled down grooves in an inclined plane,
which was movable on its centre. The grooves were zigzag, form-
ing a succession of V's, so tliat the ball, once started, traversed the
whole surface of the plate by rolling down one groove and entering
Fig. 570.
the next at the point of the Y. On arriving at the lowest point of
the inclined plane the ball with its acquired impetus unlocked the
train, which thereupon reversed the inclination of the plane or table
by the intervention of a crank and connecting rod, and the ball
started on its journey in the other direction. The ball should be of
platinum or other dense material to ensure sufficient impact in
unlocking. Congreve clocks, as they are called, go fairly well if
made with exactness and kept free from dust, but in spite of their
really attractive appearance but few of them appear to have been
440
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
made. At the Rotunda, Woolwich, is one of these curiosities bear-
ing the following inscription : " This first experiment of a new
principle for the measurement of time, invented by William
Congreve, Esq., is humbly presented to His Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales, 1808." Mr. R. Eden Dickson has one ; another
belongs to Mr. W. W. Astor ; I saw a fine specimen dating from
about 1820, inscribed "John Bentley and James Beck, Royal
Exchange." For the example in Fig. 574, which is signed " Henry
Bell, Mount St.," I am indebted to Messrs. Jump & Sons. The
three dials indicate respectively hours, minutes and seconds.
Japanese Clocks are peculiar. Until quite recent years the
Japs divided the daylight and darkness each into a period of six
hours, which therefore, except twice a year, would be of unequal
Fig. 571.
duration. Fig. 575 shows a simple and very general form of
Japanese timepiece, taken from a specimen at the Horological
Institute. There is no dial, but the progress of time is indicated by
the downward motion of the driving weight. A pointer attached to
the weight projects through a longitudinal slit running the length of
the body of the case, and clasped on to the front are metal hour
marks which may be adjusted to different heights by the thumb and
finger. The custom was to set these hour marks once a fortnight
far enough apart to correspond with the length of the hour for the
particular period of the year according to a scale engraved on
the case.
In a form of striking clock presumably used by the more wealthy
classes, dials were provided and also two balances of the cross-bar
kind, one of which controlled the motion by day and the other by
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 441
night. At sunset, by means of a pin in tlie locking-plate of the
striking train, one was automatically switched out of connection
Fig. 572.
with the train, and the other substituted. Each arm of the balances
had notches throughout its length, and the weights were shifted
442 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
i-^ite^
I n minrv^w^mixxxiin
Fig. 573.
Ftg. 574.
French Clocks and Cases in the French Style, etc. 443
444 ^^^ Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
by hand at fortnightly periods as in the more primitive time-
keepers. Half-hours as well as hours were sounded, the strokes on
the bell being given in the following order : g, i, 8, 2, 7, i, 6, 2, 5, i,
4, 2. The hours are g, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, the halves, i, 2, i, 2, i, 2. In
this way, when the half-hour was struck the hearer knew to which
one of any two hours it referred.
There is a cross-bar Japanese clock with dial at the Horological
Institute, and one with the automatic alternating arrangement at
the South Kensington Museum. Fig. 576 shows it very well.
This and Fig. 577 are from La Nature, which two or three years ago
contained an interesting article by Mons. Planchon on Japanese
methods of timekeeping. No. i of Fig. 577 is of porcelain, and No. 2
decorated with Japanese lacquer. In the latter the driving weights
are masked with tassels.
Hogarth's Dial. — x'Vs space permits in this chapter, I will append
as a curiosity a strange dial published by William Hogarth in a paper
called " The Masquerade Ticket," which appears to have been put
forth as a satire on the position accorded to Heidegger, " Master of
the Revels," whose head is drawn on the upper part of the dial.
The date, 1727, is indicated by figures in the corners. The sketch
is reproduced from John Ireland's " Hogarth Illustrated."
( 445 )
CHAPTER VII.
THE PROGRESSION OF ENGLISH DOMESTIC CLOCKS.
The manufacture of chamber clocks for domestic use, as distin-
guished from the costly and higlily decorated timekeepers made for
pubhc buildings, or to gratify the tastes of the wealthy, seems to
have commenced about 1600. These chamber clocks were of the
pattern known as "lantern," "birdcage," or "bedpost." They were
supported on a bracket, and wound by pulling down the opposite
ends of the ropes to those from which the driving weights were
hung. In some instances all the hours were struck in regular pro-
gression on the bell surmounting the structure, and sometimes the
bell was only utilized as an alarum. In all cases the second train, for
actuating the hammer, was placed behind the train for the watch,
or going part. The framing was composed of four corner posts
connecting top and bottom plates, the pivots of the trains being
supported in vertical bars. In none of them was the train calculated
for going more than 30 hours. At first the escapement with \'ertical
verge and a balance as in De Vick's clock was used as the control-
ling medium, the verge being usually suspended from a string.
About 1658 the pendulum was introduced, and quickly super-
seded the balance. The escape wheel was then as a rule planted to
work in a horizontal plane, the pendulum being attached to the
verge, and swinging either between the two trains of wheels or
behind, according to the fancy of the maker. The alternate appear-
ance of the pendulum weight at each side of the case led to its being
called a " bob " pendulum, and pendulums of this kind are still known
as bob pendulums, in contradistinction to the longer variety which
at a later period, and with the anchor escapement, vibrated in a
much smaller arc.
The movement was enclosed at the back with a brass plate ; at
the front with the dial, also of brass, with silvered hour band and
engraved numerals ; at the sides with brass doors, and when the
pendulum was between the trains, a slit was cut in each door for
the pendulum to " bob " in and out of.
446 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers
Fig. 578. — " Great Chamber Clock," 1623.
In the earliest of these clocks the dials were, as a rule, thickly gilt;
the hour circles narrow and the numerals stumpy, the front one of
the frets surrounding the bell at top usually having a shield for the
The Proi^rcsdon of Englisli Domestic Clocks.
447
crest or initials of the owner. The doors were often made of sun-
dial plates, as may be seen from the engraving on the insides of early
specimens ; doubtless the introduction of clocks played havoc with
the demand for the older time recorder, and induced many sundial
makers to turn their attention to the production of clocks. The maker's
name was engraved along the base of the fret ; or inscribed at the
top or bottom of the centre of the dial, just within the hour ring ; or
placed out of sight under the alarum plate, the latter practice leading
to the assumption that the clock was to be sold by some one other
than the maker. It may be assumed that each of the leading crafts-
men introduced alterations in style from time to time and designed
fretwork and other ornament for his exclusive use ; but it is pretty
evident that such variations were
speedily copied by the general run of
makers, for most checks of the same
period bear a marked resemblance to
each other ; possibly much of the
material was supplied from the same
foundry and cast from the same pat-
terns. About 1640 the hour bands
were made wider, with longer numerals,
and the fret with the crossed dolphins
came into use.
Among those who subscribed to the
fund for obtaining the Charter of
Incorporation of the Clockmakers' Com-
pany in 1630 was William Bowyer, who
then appears to have been a clockmaker
of repute. It is stated in Overall's " History of the Clockmakers'
Company," that in 1642 Bowyer presented to the Company a great
Chamber clock in consideration of his being thereafter exempted
from all office and service as well as quarterage and other fees.
Fig. 578 shows what must be regarded as a particularly interesting
specimen of Bowyer's work. It is a " large Chamber clock," which
measures 8|- inches across the dial, its total height being i6|^ inches.
Around the centre of the dial is inscribed, " William Bowver of
London, fecit 1623." This was doubtless formerly covered by an
alarum disc. Along the bottom of the dial is engraved, " Samuel
Lynaker of London." Now Samuel Linaker was named in the
Charter of Incorporation of the Clockmakers' Company to be one
of the assistants, as the members of the Committee of Management
448 Old Clocks and ]Vatchcs and their Makers.
were termed, and it seems to be a fair inference that the clock was
made by Bowyer for Linaker.
On the side door of the clock, which is visible in Fig. 578, a figure
of Time is engraved ; and on che other door a figure of Death, as
shown to a reduced scale in the sketch, Fig. 579. In the right hand
of the figure appears to be a torch, and depending therefrom is a
streamer, on which are the words, " The sting of death is sinne."
The left hand holds a sand glass, and underneath are the following
lines : —
" Man is a glase, Life
Is as water weakly washed about,
Sinns brought in death.
Death breakes the glase.
So runes this water out."
In larger characters is the admonition, " Memento Mory."
Very possibly the doorn of such clocks were engraved to suit the
tastes of purchasers. There are no particulars obtainable as to the
early history of this example, which now belongs to Mr. Henry Smith.
I remember seeing another large lantern clock by the same maker
which was inscribed, " William Boyear, in Ledenhall Streete, fecit."
The movement of this clock was arranged in the usual manner, the
striking train behind the going, and working in three upright bars.
It required a great fall of the driving weights to go thirty hours, as
each of the main wheels made one rotation per hour. The original
vertical escapement, as usual, had been removed ; but from parts
remaining it could be seen that it was identically the same as the
drawings of De Vick's. The wheels and pinions, as one sometimes
finds, were very little cut, and though evidently rounded by hand,
seemed beautifully correct, and ran easily without 'chattering. The
hour wheel was driven by a pinion of four, the end of the main
wheel stafi" being filed up into four pins to serve the purpose.
Another interesting lantern clock of large size is shown in Fig.
580, the dial measuring 7-^ inches across. The gallery fret above
the dial is particularly well designed, and bears the inscription,
" Thomas Knifton at the Cross Keys in Lothebury, Londini, P'ecit."
Thomas Knifton was well known among the early makers. On the
upper part of the space within the hour ring is engraved, " This
was given by William Adams, the founder of this Schoole, and is to
be made use of for the benifit thereof, 1657." The reference is to a
school in Gloucestershire which was maintained by the Haberdashers'
Company.
Clocks of this size were I think exceptional. Most that I have
Tlic Prooycssioii of Ei!i:^iisJi Domestic Clocks.
449
seen of the period varied from about 3 inches by 2| inches to
5 inches square. Larger movements were more favoured at the end
of the seventeenth century and beginning of the eighteenth century.
After about 1660 the dial was, as a rule, increased in size with
relation to the body of the clock
so that it projected more on each
side of the frame. This de-
parture may be observed on the
lantern clock by Tompion, which
dates from about 1665, and is
shown on page 270.
Front and side views of a
good specimen by Thomas
Dyde, dating from about 1670,
engraved by favour of Mr.
Shapland, are given in Figs.
581 and 582. A particular
feature in this clock is the
unusually elaborate pierced work
attached to the hammer tail
detent, which may be seen in
Fig. 582.
The engraving (Fig. ^8^)
taken from a drawing by Mr.
William Newton shows well the
usual arrangement on a bracket.
The name, W'illiam Ruthven,
on the door of the clock was
probably that of the owner.
Many clocks made during
the latter part of the reign of
William III. and in the time of
Queen Anne had the dials pro-
jecting beyond the frames from
2 to 3 inches on each side.
These are generally known as
sheeps-head clocks. However much the usefulness of the clock
may have been increased by the superior legibility of its hour ring,
it cannot be contended that the overhanging disc improved its
general appearance.
With little variations in the style, these brass clocks seem to
c.w. G G
Fig. 580.
450
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
have been made from the time of EHzabeth until about the beginning
of the reign of George III., the later specimens being principally of
provincial manufacture, and with square arched-top dials. They
are still often to be met with in the country, enclosed in a wooden
hood as a protection from dust, with pendulum and weights hanging
Fig. 581.
Fig. 582.
below. Sometimes they are without any extra case, and, instead of
being placed on a bracket, are simply attached to the wall by means
of an iron loop and two prongs.
The " fret " at the top of the case may in many instances be
somewhat of a guide in estimating the period of a lantern clock.
Appended are examples, for several of which I am indebted to
Mr. Percy Webster.
The Progression of English Domestic Clocks
451
The heraldic fret (Fij(. 5S4) was in use at the earliest period up to
1630 or 1640. William Bowyer, Thomas Loomes and Peter Closon
(Figs. 585, 586, 587) are diverse styles between 1620 and 1640,
Fig. 583.
while the Thomas Pace fret (Fig. 588) may be taken to represent
the period between 1630 to 1660. The crossed dolphins came into
use about 1640, and were a favourite pattern from then as long as
lantern clocks were made. An uncommon and unusually fine fret
G G 2
452
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
may be observed on the clock by Thomas Knifton, shown in Fig.
580. J. Michell of Chardstock, a village in Somersetshire, was an
excellent maker of lantern clocks about 1700, and judging from the
Fig. 584. — Heraldic.
number of specimens still existing, he must have had a considerable
connection. His frets were good and bore a distinctive character.
The one shown in Fig. 590 is from a clock in the possession of
Fig. 585. — The fret of William Bowyer.
Mr. S. Good, Seaton, Devonshire. Michell was succeeded by the
family of Drayton, of which several generations successively carried
on the business till past the middle of the nineteenth century,
the last member being Thomas Drayton. A fret as in Fig. 591,
TJic Progression of Eni^lish Dovicsiic Clocks.
453
einbodyin<::[ somcthin.ij similar to the supporters in the Royal arms, is
occasionally to be met with. The initials preceding; the date may be
Fig. 5S6, — The fret of William iJowyer and Thcmas Lcomes.
those of the owner or the maker. Frets similar to Fig. 592 are found
upon later specimens, particularly those made in the Eastern Counties.
Fig. 5S7.
Captain Edward Lethbridge has a clock of the kind referred to as
being a transition between the brass-cased lantern and the wooden
long-case. It is by Thristle of Williton, a village in Somerset. The
454
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
movement stands on a mahogany bracket, and is protected by a hood
of the same material having a carved top. It requires winding twice
a week. The dial measures about 7 inches across, and has an
Fig. 58S. — The fret of Thomas Pace at the Crown.
arched top with a figure of Time and the motto " Tempus fugit."
There is an alarum, but no other striking work. It has a long
pendulum swinging in the open air below the bracket, where also
Fig. 589. — Dolphin fret.
hangs the cord from which the dri\ing weight depends. The date
of its production would be, I should think, about 1720. Mr. W. T.
Harkness has one by " Payne, Hadleigh," of the same period, the
hood of which is mahogany.
The Pro<^i'cssioii of EiiglisJi Domestic Clocks.
455
An earlier hood clock is shown in Fig. 593 by fa\our of Mr. Percy
Webster. It is of the kind known as " Friesland," and though
clocks of this pattern were, I think, not made in England, they are
Fig. 590. — Fret of J. Michell, Chardstock.
of interest as an early application of a pendulum longer than the
case. Through the hole in the bottom of the bracket the pendulum
iV^V
,1 CV/# ^^
Fig. 591.
bob, in the form of a man on horseback, is visible as it vibrates.
There are two bells, the completion of each hour being marked
by strokes on the large bell, while the same number of blows given
on the small bell denotes the succeedinsr half-hour.
456
Old Clocks and Watches and iliciv Makers.
Fig. 592. — Late period fret used in the Eastern Counties.
In Fig. 594 is shown a clock, probably German or Dutch, and
which appears to date from the
middle of the seventeenth century.
The movement and case are en-
tirely of iron, the sides and front
being adorned wdth oil paintings,
which are very effective.
Lantern clocks were made long
after the long case was introduced.
Indeed, one occasionally sees an
adaptation of the bedpost movement
to the needs of the later con-
struction, the two trains being
placed side by side to allow of
winding with a key from the front,
but witli six pillars instead of the
more simple and convenient back
and front plates.
Then, in the old four-post Dutch
movements, made at the beginning
of the last century, a long while
after the adoption of the pendulum,
the crown wheel and verge were
retained in a vertical position, and
the pendulum was suspended above
the movement at the back of the
Fig. 593. case, quite detached, and connected
The Progression of Eiu^lish Domestic Clocks.
457
witli the escapement only by means of a light wire crutch, working
horizontally over the frame. Owing to this peculiarity, clocks of such a
construction are often supposed to be much older than they really are,
especially if, as occasionally happens, the pendulum gets removed or
lost ; for when this occurs, the
remaining part of the movement
almost identically resembles the
drawings of De Vick's clock.
Another instance of the slow
appreciation of impro\ement
is the very gradual acknowledg-
ment of the minute hand.
Clocks with an hour hand only
were produced by country
makers till quite the end of
the eighteenth century.
Long - Case Clocks. — It
would bedifiicult to say exactly
when the brass chamber clock
with a wooden hood developed
into the long-case \ariety now
familiarly termed "Grand-
father," but it was probably
between 1660 and 1670. In
the earliest the escapement was
governed either by the two-
armed balance with weights or
by a " bob " pendulum. John
Smith in " Horological Dia-
logues," published in 1675,
says : "If your pendulum clock
be of the ordinary sort the
trouble and manner of hanging
it up is the same with the
balance clock, viz. : to drive
an hook for it to hang on."
But he also speaks of " setting up long swing pendulums after you
have taken it from the cofifin " and adds, " the same rule that is given
for this serves for all other trunck-cases whatsoever."
In his " Horological Disquisitions," issued in 1694, Smith is much
more precise and refers to the anchor escapement and improved
Fig. 594.
458
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
pendulum " invented by that eminent and well-known artist, Mr.
William Clement." He gives a list of " Crown Wheel Pendulums,"
from I inch to 12 inches long, and then a list of " royal " pendulums,
as in his enthusiastic approval he terms those of Clement, from
12 inches to 65 inches in length.
The long or "royal" pendulum, introduced about 1676, was
pretty generally adopted by the leading makers for their best work
within a few years]^from that date. The cases of the balance and
bob pendulum clocks were exceedingly narrow in the waist, only
just sufficient width having originally been allowed for the rise and
fall of the weights. In some instances a clock of this kind would be
converted to the new style and then a
curious addition, in the form of a wing
^^ '' ■■'^■^ JB '-"^ projection was made on each side of
lM^liii^^|HiE~~'*'^^H the case to permit the swing of a "royal"
pendulum. Sheraton seems to have
suggested a revival of these wings in
the case shown in Fig. 655.
But for a few exceptions that mark the
rule, long-case clocks have the movement
contained between two brass plates held
together by horizontal pillars. This change
came with the rearrangement of the
trains side by side, to allow of winding
with a key from the front of the dial.
It may be concluded that the earliest
long-case clocks would go for but 24
or 30 hours between successive windings,
and possibly at first they were wound by
pulling down the driving cords. There
is an early one by Tompion at the Guildhall Museum, which has a
lantern movement and is so arranged. But there is a very fine 30
hour clock by the same maker in the Wetherfield collection, which
winds through holes in the dial. The introduction of the " royal "
pendulum and wheel work for 8 days running, seems to have been
almost coincident. The evident success of eight-day movements
induced clock makers to calculate trains to go for a month, three
months, and e\en a year, of which there are several examples by
Tompion, Quare and others.
In the striking part of the earliest eight-day clocks the locking
plate or count wheel was on the outside of the pillar plate, instead
Fig. 595. — Side view of time-
piece movement by William
Clement, about 1676.
Tlic Pi'ogrcssioii of Eiii^lish Doincsiic Clocks. 459
of bcint^f altaclied to the great wheel. When the rack was introduced
it was placed between the plates and lifted by a pin in the arbor, the
superior niethod of an outside rack lifted by a gathering pallet
seems to have come into use about 1 700.
Mr D. A. F. Wetherfield has a month timepiece by William
Clement, who is said to have first applied the anchor escapement.
It is in an oak veneered-walnut case, the case and dial being very
similar to those of the Tompion clock shown in Fig. 627. There is
no door to the hood which has grooves to correspond with the back-
board of the case ; the hood thus slides upwards when taken off, or
when the clock is to be wound. Preparatory to winding, the hood is
raised until engaged by a spring, which holds it in the requisite
position to admit of access to the winding-hole. A side \-iew of the
movement is given in Fig. 595. There are six pillars and catches
pivoted on one of the plates shut into corresponding slots in the
pillars, thus fastening the movement together. The escape wheel
is solid, has 24 teeth, and is i inch in diameter ; the pallets are about
^ inch across. The pendulum is 5 feet 6 inches long, each vibration
marking a second and a quarter, and the seconds circle has 48
divisions only instead of the usual 60. Between the plates is a
small brass dial with figures i to 12 engraved on it, and having a
hand by turning which forwards or backwards the pendulum is
lengthened or shortened. On the spindle to which the hand is
attached is a worm which gears into a quadrant carrying an arm,
and to this arm the pendulum is hung.
Dials. — In estimating the age of a clock many distinguishing
features of the dial may be noted. From the first the hour circles
were, with few exceptions, engraved on a separate silvered ring as in
lantern clocks ; the double circles within the numerals were retained,
and in the space enclosed between them were radial strokes, dividing
the hour into quarters, the half-hours being denoted by longer
strokes terminating in a fleuv-de-lys or other ornament. The form
of the hour hand differed but little from the indicators on lantern
clocks. Fig. 596 shows the dial of a 30 hour long-case clock
by Andrew Prime, London, dating from about 1670, belonging to
Mr. C. J. Abbott, of Long Melford. Except for the difference in the
name, the engraving on the 30 hour Tompion clock at the Guildhall
Museum is exactly similar.
It must not be assumed that of two long-case clocks, one with an
hour hand only, and the other with a minute hand as well, that the one
with the single index is necessarily of the earlier date, for though the
460
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
minute hand was applied as early as 1 670, clocks with an hour hand only
were quite common throughout the eighteenth century. It is most
probable that for some years the minute hand was only apphed by the
best makers and exclusively to clocks of a superior class ; this assump-
tion is justified by the fact that though many early one-hand clocks
roughly made are met with, those with the minute hand are almost in-
variably well finished. The form of the hands is an excellent guide to
the period. Fig. 597 shows the dial and hands of a very fine long-case
clock by Tompion, belonging to Mr. Wetherfield, and which may be
Fig. 596. — Andrew Prime, about 1670.
safely placed as dating from between 1 676 and 1 680. The centre of the
dial is matted, and this, though characteristic of the time, was not an
invariable custom, for some makers adhered to the engraved centre as
seen in lantern clocks of earlier times. On dials of the William III.
and Queen Anne periods, even when the centre was matted, there would
be usually a "herring-bone" or laurel leaf border along the edges,
and engraving something in the form of birds and foliage surrounded
the aperture showing the day of the month, as in the Quare dial on
page 293. This had a very good effect when burnished bright in
contrast to the matting. Further relief was given by turning a
number of bright rings around the winding holes. \\'ith the
Tlic Progression of English Domestic Clocks.
461
exception of those 30 liour adaptations with lantern movements
as in Fig. 596, the maker's name on the earhest of the seventeenth
century clocks was, as a rule, inscribed in a straight line along the
bottom of the dial, usually in Latin, thus : " Eduardus East,
Londini, Fecit," and visible only when the hood was raised or
remo\ed, or the door of it opened. Later it was engraved within
the minute circles between the numerals VIL and V. and the Latin
form of inscription died out so far as the signature is concerned,
though it was occasionally indulged in for such popular mottoes as
Fig. 597. — Dial of Clock by Thos. Tompion, 1676 — 80.
Tcnipns fugit, Vigilatc et Orate, Tempiis edax reriiiii, &c. A remarkably
fine month clock by Tompion in a beautifully figured walnut case,
dating from about 1 705, which belongs to Mr. J. Drummond Robertson,
is shown in Fig. 636. In this the name is inscribed in a straight line
along the bottom of the dial, and the signature appears also on a label
below the centre of the dial as in the Bath and Iscoyd Park clocks by
Tompion, of a slightly later date, shown on pp. 277, 279. After
about 1710 attached name plates were occasionally used, but through-
out the century most makers showed preference for the curved
inscription between the numerals.
462
Old Clocks and WatcJics and their Makers.
Speaking generally, it seems that up to the end of the seventeenth
century long-case clocks were small in size ; all had square dials
measuring either 9I inches, 10 inches, 10^ inches, or 11 inches across.
Square dials, 12 inches across, were later.
Fig. 598 represents a very early square engraved metal dial which
is of particular interest, not only from its handsome appearance but
froin the fact that it discloses a peculiar plan of denoting the
minutes. The short hand in the centre of the dial is the alarm
index, which need not be referred to further. The hours and sub-
divisions representing quarter hours are engraved on the dial plate
in the manner usual at the middle of the seventeenth century, and
the hours and quarters are indi-
cated by a pointer fixed to a plate
of the form shown, and which
revolves once in twelve hours.
The revolving plate includes an
outer ring connected with the
centre by three arms, and pro-
jecting from the outer edge of
this ring are twelve pointers
placed equidistantly around the
periphery. On the upper part
of the fixed dial plate is a narrow
band forming 30 degrees, or one-
twelfth of the circumference.
This band is divided into 60
equal parts, representing the
minutes in an hour ; and if at
Fig. 598.
the beginning of an hour one of the pointers is just entering this arc,
it is obvious it will in its course indicate the minutes which have elapsed
since thecompletion of the pre\'ioushour. At the bottom of the dial is
inscribed, "William Clay, King's Street, Westminster," and this
William Clay was possibly the one recorded as the maker of a watch
presented by Cromwell to Colonel Bagwell at the siege of Clonmel. This
dial was sketched from a clock in the possession of Mr. Percy Webster.
An arched top to the dial appears to have been first added early
in the eighteenth century for the reception of an equation of
time register, as shown in Tompion's clock on page 279. It will
be observed that the Hampton Court clock bearing Quare's name
and which was designed to show true solar time has no arch to
the dial, but a subsequent clock on the same plan by Joseph
The Proi^rc^^ion of Eit'^U^li Domestic Clocks.
463
Williamson, has an arch containing a calendar for the year as shown
in l''ig. 612. On another dial by \\'illiamson, the day of the week
is indicated, as seen in Fig. 613. Apart from its utility in this
connection, the addition of the arched top was certainly a great
improvement to the appearance of the dial, and from this time was
generally retained for the better class of work e\en when not
required as a field for the exhibition of any of the clock movements.
In such cases the space was devoted to decoration, a fa\oured device
being a domed plate on which was inscribed either the owner's or
the maker's name, occa-
sionally with a crest or
motto, and generally
flanked on each side by
a dolphin or rococo
ornament of the kind
apparently introduced
by Joseph Williamson,
and shown on his dials,
Figs. 612 and 613.
Among other useful
purposes to which the
arch was applied the
" strike-silent " hand
and the " rise and
fall " register may be
mentioned as two of
the earliest. The titles
of these are suggestive
of their use. The strike-
silent mechanism for
stopping the striking of the clock at pleasure is older than the arch,
and is to be seen on clocks ha\ing square dials. A particular form of
strike-silent mechanism was incorporated in a patent granted to John
Rowning, M.A., in 1732 (No. 535). The rise and fall hand was
connected with the pendulum and served to regulate the time of its
vibration by altering its effective length.
For many years, but especially during the latter part of the
eighteenth century, there was a great taste for mo\'ing figures placed
in this part of the dial, such automata as see-saws, heaving ships,
time on the wing, etc., being especially favoured. The Dutch seem
to have greatly excelled at this kind of work,
Fig. 599. — Simple calendar work.
464 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Calendar circles in the arch of the dial were very popular. The
hands for these were generally worked as shown in Fig. 599. Gearing
with the hour wheel is a wheel having twice its number of teeth, and
turning therefore once in 24 hours. A three-armed lever is planted
just above this wheel ; the lower arm is slotted, and the wheel carries
a pin which works in this slot, so that the lever vibrates to and
fro once every 24 hours. The three upper circles in the drawing
represent three star wheels. The one to the right has seven teeth
corresponding to the days of the week ; the centre one has thirty-one
teeth for the days of the month ; and the left-hand one has twelve
teeth for the months of the year. Every time the upper arms of the
lever vibrate to the left, they move forward the day of the week and
day of the month wheels each one tooth. The extremities of the
levers are jointed, so as to yield on the return vibration, and are
brought into position again by a weak spring, as shown. There is a
pin in the day of the month wheel which, by pressing on a lever
once every revolution, actuates the month of the year wheel. This
last lever is also jointed, and is pressed on by a spring, so as to
return to its original position. Each of the star wheels has a click
or jumper kept in contact by means of a spring.
For months with less than thirty-one days the day of the month
hand has to be shifted forward.
The phases of the moon, usually accomplished by a disc turning
once in two lunations, as shown in Enderlin's clock on page 365,
was also a favourite device for the arch of the dial. Clocks with a
globular rotating moon over the dial as used by Fromantil were
popular in Yorkshire during the eighteenth century and were known
locally as " Halifax clocks." Mr. J. Whiteley Ward has a fine
specimen of which I shall be able to give an illustration. This clock
was made by Thomas Ogden and formerly stood at the top of the
stairs of the Old Assembly Room behind the Talbot Inn, Halifax.
The spandrels or corners outside the circle of the dial are another
sign of the times. In some of the very earliest long-case clocks
flowers were engraved there, as in William Clay's dial on page 462.
In Fig. 621 the corners are filled each with a line of verse, but
more usually these spaces were occupied by raised gilt ornaments, of
which the earliest were the cherubs' or angels' heads, Fig. 600.
This pattern will be seen on the clock represented in the coat of arms
granted to the Clockmakers'' Company in 1671, and was largely used
until the end of the century. It was succeeded by larger and more
elaborate corners like Fig. 601. Then more ambitious designs came
Tlic Pro-^rcssioii of English DcDiicslic Clocks.
46:
into use, notably two Cupids or nude boys supporting a crown in the
midst of ornamental scroll-work (Fig. 602) ; or a crown with crossed
sceptres and foliage, as in Mg. 603. This is an unusually fine
specimen taken from a clock of the Queen Anne period by W.
Draper, a maker of wliom I seem to have no precise particulars,
tliough Mr. William Norman lias a metal token issued by W. Draper,
watchmaker, wliich lias on the obverse " Success to the Borough of
JMaldon " with the arms of the town, and on the re\erse the arms of
the Clockmakers' Company. Later in the eighteenth century different
figures representing the four seasons were popular with some of the
pro\incial makers, but they are seldom to be seen on clocks by
London men. The naked boys were followed by various combina-
tions of a rococo character, such as Fig. 604. One of the best and
most popular of the designs used during the George IIL period is
shown in Fig. 605. Some of the corners and arch ornaments of this
time were sadly degenerate in form and execution, being merely a mass
of unmeaning curves reproduced in rough castings, not touched by
the chasing tool or graver, but lacquered just as they left the sand.
Many of the early dials and corners were water gilt. Occasionally
on clocks of a high class, silver corner pieces pierced and engraved
were substituted for the set patterns.
The hands on eight-day clocks of the William IIL period are
most artistic, not only being elaborately pierced, but also carved
c.w. H H
466
Old Clocks and Watches and tlicir Makers.
and shaped on the surface. At my request Mr. Wetherfield has
favoured me with a series of eight dials reproduced in Figs. 606 to 613
from which may be noted the hands, marks between the hour
Fig. 603.
numerals and other distinguishing features ranging over about forty
years from the Edward East specmien, Fig. 606, which is furnished
with bolt and shutter maintaining power as described on page 301.
Later examples down to the end of the eighteenth century are given
on succeeding pages.
Dials of brass, silvered all over, without a . separate ring for the
hour and minute circles, and in which the primitive practice of
engraving instead of matting the central space was reverted to,
were introduced about 1750. Many of these dials were characterised
by really excellent engraving. Thomas Bewick, the celebrated
The Pro<^n'L'ssio!i of Eni^IisJi Doiiicsiic Clocks. 467
Fig. 606. — Edward East, about 1680 ; 8 day clock ; 10 inch dial
Bolt and shutter maintaining power.
Fig. 607. — Joseph Knibb, about 1690 ; month clock ; 10 inch dial ;
unique corner pieces.
H H 2
Fig. 608. — Joseph Knibb, about 1695 ; month clock ; 10 inch dial
skeleton hour ring : every minute numbered.
Fig. 609.— Thos. Tompion, about 1700 ; month clock ; 11 inch dial
bolt and shutter maintaining power.
Fig. 6io. — Daniel yuare, about 1705 ; month clock ; 11 inch dial.
Fig. 611. — Jonathan Lowndes, about 1710; S day clock; 12 inch dial.
470 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
engraver, who died in 1828 at the age of seventy-six, was apprenticed
to Bielby of Newcastle, and during his apprenticeship was frequently
engaged in engraving clock dials. By favour of Mr. Thos. Foster, I
am able in Fig. 615 to show an excellent specimen, dating from
Fig. 612. — Joseph Williamson, about 1715 ; month clock ; square
of dial, 12 inches; inscription, Horae indicantur apparcntcs
invohitis aequatioiiibus. Calendar in the arch.
about 1 775, by James Whitworth of Lussley, a village near Newcastle.
The figures at the corners to represent the seasons are engraved on
the plate. The disc, which moves in the arch and contains two
representations of the moon and rural scenes is painted, and the
moon in its course indicates its age by figures engraved on the fixed
part of the arch.
TJic Prof^irssion of Eiii:^lish Domestic Clocks.
471
Dials with enamelled centres were occasionally used for superior
long-case clocks at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the
nineteenth century, but earlier ones are rare. In Fig. 617 is shown,
Fig. 613. — Joseph Williamson, about 1720; 8 day clock; square of
dial, 12 inches; lower hour numerals reversed; day of the
week indicated in the arch, an illustration for each day appears
through an aperture.
by favour of Mr. Wetherfield, the dial of a long-case clock dated
1778, by Robert Comber of Lewes, a maker of good repute in Sussex
for the excellent character of his work, which this example quite
justifies. The hands will bear examination, the corner pieces and
arch ornaments are of good design, well chased and water gilt ; but
472
Old Clocks and ]Vatches and their Makers.
the most remarkable feature is the position of the winding squares,
which are below the enamelled disc so that not only is the unsight-
hness of the holes got rid of, but one of the chief objections to
enamel, the danger of chipping round the holes, is avoided. Wheels
Fig. 614.— Rotating Moon Dial of " Halifax Clock" by Thos. Ogden,
about 1750, see p. 464.
were added at the back of the movement to bring the winding squares
down to the required position.
About 1780 silvered dials shorn of all decorative engraving were
sometimes used, and at the same period dials of iron or tin painted
The Progression of English Domestic Clocks. 473
over made tlieir appearance ; this last construction betokens a dep^ree
of dej^'radation beyond which we need not pursue the lonfj^-case clock
dial.
On pages 476 and 477 are sliown some clock liands, nearly all from
Fig. 615. — Finely engraved dial, about 1775. Figures at the corners
to represent the four seasons.
examples collected by Mr. G. H. Newton of Watford. Nos. i, 2, 3,
and 4 belonged to lantern clocks made between 1630 and 1680.
No, 5 from a clock by Henry Jones about 1670. Nos. 6 to 23 are
from long-case, and 24 to 29 from bracket clocks. No. 6 by John
474
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Tirry, York, about 1680; No. 7, J. Windmills, 1690; No. 8, John
Smith, 1695; No. 9, Simon Lamb, Rochester, 1700; No. 10, Saml.
Harris, 1710; No. 11, George Hewitt, Marlboro', 1720; No. 12
V//v//. ^ '(^////'//'.Yl
-• >\^
//
^^
01
r '
Vu:. (.16. — l)ial -.vith moving fiyures. ihoiU i jSu ; see p. 4i)'>.
(hour, minute and regulation hands), Geo. Graham, 1730; No. 13,
Thos. Vernon, Ludlow, 1740; No. 14, Wm. Avenall, Alresford,
1750; No. 15, Thos. Andrews, Steyning, 1760; No. 16, Wm. Berridge,
1770. Nos. 17 and 18 are typical single hands from early eighteenth
century long-case clocks. No. 19, S. Hoole, 1770 ; No. 20, Wm.
Tlic Pvo^rc^don of English Domestic Clocks.
475
Skeggs, 1780; No. 21, J. Lorinier, 1790; No. 22, Hugh Stockell,
Newcastle, 1800; No. 23, another \ariety of about the same date ;
No. 24, J. Lowndes, i6go ; No. 25, AsseHn 1720; No. 26, Win.
Fig. 617. — Enamel centre, 1778 : see p. 471.
KipHng, 1710; No. 27, Joseph Emery, 1780 ; No. 28, Robert Newman,
1700 ; No. 29, Thos. Appleby, 1800.
Cases. — As material for the cases, oak has been used from first
to last, but rarely for high-class work. Walnut cases, both plain and
inlaid, were largely made during the latter part of the seventeenth
and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. The marqueterie work
476 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Fig. 618
The Proi^rcssion of Eiii^lisJi Doincslic Clock
:s. 477
29
Fig. 6ig.
478 Old Clocks and Watches and tlicir Makers.
rarely extended to the sides of the case, which were plain as a rule,
though occasionally panelled ; the panels being filled with parquetry,
that is, set w'ith angular pieces of thick veneer. Oyster-shell veneer
or inlay was another handsome style of ornament ; the inlay consisted
of roundish pieces of veneer cut from cross sections of small branches
so as to exhibit the natural formation or ringed structure of the wood.
Ebony, rosewood, and hardwood of reddish colour called, I believe,
kingwocd, were occasionally used for cases, while laburnum, olive,
yew, holly, sycamore, apple and pear as well as tulip wood, amboyna
and other fancy kinds were employed with good effect for inlaying.
In some districts chestnut seems to have been utilised to a considerable
extent for cases during the eighteenth century. Mahogany was not
used till about 1716. The arched dialTompion clock at the Guildhall
has a mahogany case, but it was probably made at a later date than
the movement. The case of the Tompion one year timepiece at the
Admiralty, w4iich is showm on page 483, is distinctly later than
Tompion's time, and it is related that the movement of a similar
piece presented to the Royal Society in 1736 was discovered among
lumber on the premises occupied by the Philosophical Society. At
Child's bank is a long-case clock by Richard Street dating from about
1 7 10. It is in an oak case veneered with mahogany, but the veneer
was, I am satisfied, not applied when the case was made ; doubtless
the rich appearance of mahogany led to its subsequent application.
The arched head to the long door of the case is not quite so old as
the arched dial, but the introduction of curved door heads may be put,
I think, at about 1725.
Numbers of cases covered with English copies of quaint-looking
Japanese or Oriental lacquer- work were made between 1720 and
1750, and they have many admirers, but marqueterie and lacquer-
work rapidly declined as mahogany became more known, and it
must be confessed that some cases of mahogany in the Chippendale
and Sheraton styles, inlaid with satinwood, etc., quite justify the
admiration with which they are regarded.
In many of the early cases a bull's-eye of greenish glass was let into
the door opposite the pendulum bob, magnifying and distorting the
appearance of the bob as it swung to and fro. The upper part of
the case, or hood, which surrounded the dial was at first made wnthout
any door. Most makers fitted the hood with grooves to the back as
described on page 459. In other instances the hood had to be slid
forward and entirely removed to obtain access to the dial. In the
early cases the moulding under the hood was convex as distinguished
The Progycssion of Eii^i^lish Domestic Clocks. 479
from the conca\e moulding almost imariably used afterwards.
Corkscrew pillars at the angles of the hood were much favoured
during the William III. and Queen Anne periods. The pillars
supported an entablature which either terminated with a Hat top or
was surmounted by a pediment or some kind of ornament. A domed
or canopied structure was common, but there is no particular pattern
which can be (juoted as absolutely distinguishing the time. The
styles most in vogue may be gathered from illustrations of examples
which I shall be able to give. In nearly all cases a frieze or other
band was pierced to emit the sound of the bell ; sometimes the fret-
work was of wood and sometimes of brass. The brass fret strips,
which were rather pretty, were often removed when the case subse-
quently underwent repair. One of them taken from a clock dating
from 1700 is shown in Fig. 620.
Fig. 627 represents an eight-day Tompion clock dating from 1676-80,
the dial of which, g^ inches square, is shown separately on page 461.
The case is of oak veneered with walnut ; at the corners of the hood
Fig. 620. — Brass fret from head of long-case clock, about 1700.
are pillars with helical or " corkscrew " shafts, brass bases and
Corinthian capitals. Well executed brass festoons of fruit and
flowers adorn the hood over the dial and over the side lights. Mr.
Wetherfield, who owns this clock, has a timepiece by William Clement
which is very similar in appearance.
By favour of Messrs. Home and Son, of Leyburn, I am able to
give an engraving of a quaint 30 hour long-case clock of provincial
make which now belongs to Mr. Thomas Bradley, W^ensleydale.
This case is of oak and panelled. The head is fixed on the trunk,
and will not take off. Two slip doors at the sides of the head open to
get to the works, and a sash door affords the same convenience for
the dial. Both the case door and the sash door open from right to
left. The initials E. F. M. wath date, 1681, are carved on the case.
The clock was made for Edward and Margaret Fawcett ; the former
was a clergyman, who lived at Hardraw, close to the beautiful Har-
draw Waterfall. The works are of the lantern type, with a large
bell and hammer inside, and small dial as shown in F'ig. 621. It was
made by John Ogden, Bowbrigg(e). In Ogden's clocks of later date
480 Old Clocks and Watches and tlicir Makers.
the name of the place was spelled Bowbridge, but the local name is
Bowbrigge to-day. In each of the corner spaces outside of the hour
circle is engraved one line of the following verse : —
" Behold this hand,
Observe ye motions trip ;
Man's pretious hours
A way Hke these do slip."
John Ogden was a member of the Society of Friends, and a friend
of George Fox, who often visited Wensleydale.
Marqueterie. — The formation of designs byinlaying wood of
different kinds is a very ancient art. The Italians particularly
excelled at it in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Early inlaying
was done by cutting out from the solid wood which formed the
groundwork such parts of a pre-arranged design as it was desired
to have of a different colour and then inserting pieces of a suitable
and different kind of wood. But in most of the marqueterie we see
on clock cases, the design is out cut of a groundwork of veneer which
is filled in with other veneer and attached to the surface of the wood
which forms the body of the case. This method is, I think, of
French origin and dates from the middle of the seventeenth century,
but it was first applied to., clock cases about 1685, and remained in
fashion, so far as clock cases are concerned, for about 25 years from
that date.
Dutch marqueterie is effective, of a distinctly bolder or coarser
character, and, as a rule, may be distinguished from what may be
called English designs, which more favoured the Italian style.
Arabesques, fine geometrical patterns, conventional flowers and
foliage executed byinlaying wood, which, though of a different colour
to the ground, was yet not in violent contrast to it, characterised the
English, while Dutch artists, who accentuated more the difference
between the groundwork and the inlay, indulged in quaint and
fanciful designs in which grotesque masks and figures, as well as
vases, birds, leaves, tulips and other flowers were pourtrayed by
means of shading and the use of wood naturally of another colour or
stained to the desired tint. It must not be assumed, though, that what
is called Dutch marqueterie was necessarily executed in the Nether-
lands ; there is no doubt that when William III. ascended the
English throne his followers included Dutch inlayers who settled
here and turned the public taste to their particular methods, which
were followed by English workers
At first the marqueterie was arranged on the front of the case in
panels with semicircular ends, sometimes with a line border connecting
The Pro;j^)rssio)i of Iii!t:;lish Domestic Clocks. 481
the panels ; afterwards the whole of the front surface might be
covered with niar(]ueterie, the door and plinth having set designs,
enclosed in floral or other borders. In marqueterie work of the very
highest class, it will be noticed that the whole of the inlay on any one
surface forms a complete design ; if birds or figures are introduced
they are delineated as a whole and fall gracefully into the conception
of the designer. More frequently a symmetrical pattern was taken
and two pieces of veneer forming half of the pattern w^ere laid one on
the other and pierced together ; the halves were then placed side by
side and of course matched exactly. But however close the jointing
of the halves, the line of junction down the centre may be discerned
by close examination. Masks or vases containing leaves and flowers
on stalks were commonly selected for such treatment and were dis-
played very effectixely in this way. Sometimes the halving would
extend to a portion of the design only, and advantage would be taken of
the outlines of leaves or scrolls to join in the halved pieces very neatly.
In the South Kensington INIuseum are a clock by Mansell I3ennett
enclosed in a case decorated with marqueterie in panel, and an
unusually fine example of English scroll marqueterie co\ering the
case of a clock by Henry Poisson ; on the staircase of the Soane
Museum is a clock by William Threlkeld, the case of which is
also adorned with marqueterie in the English style.
Soho seems to have been a favoured district for marqueterie
workers, though Tonbridge in Kent and St. Ives and other smaller
places in Cornwall are spoken of as being famous for marqueterie
work in the eighteenth century.
After being neglected for fifty years or so marqueterie was to some
extent revived as a decoration for clock cases. An example on the
early lines which is shown in Fig. 653, dates apparently from about
1770. Chaste inlay in the Hepplewhite and Sheraton style, as in
Fig. 659, is admirable. Sheraton's designs for clock cases are
reproduced on page 496.
A fine specimen, with English marqueterie in panels, which is
in the Dean's Vestry, St. Paul's Cathedral, is given in Fig. 622.
The date of this can be well authenticated by the following extract
which I have been allowed to make from the Cathedral accounts
for the period from October, 1697, to September, 1698, when the
clock was paid for : —
" ffor a pendulum Clock for the South East Vestrey that goes 8 dayes in a
Wallnut Tree inlade Case ^14 00 00."
There is now no maker's name on either the dial or movement,
c.w. I I
482
Old Clocks and ]Vaichcs and tlidir Maker's.
but the clock was doubtless the production of Langley Bradley^ who
was at that time the Cathedral clockmaker.
The clock shown in Fig. 623 is the property of Mr. Thomas
A
,/jJL
Fig. 621. — Primitive
provincial style, 1681.
r^M
I
Fig. 622. — Clock at St.
Paul's Cathedral, i6g8.
liiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii[iiiiiiiii|
Fig. 623. — "George
Ethrington, London,"
about 1695.
Boynton, Bridlington Quay, and was made by George Ethrington,
London, about 1695. The case is finely decorated with English
marqueterie.
Tlic Pyo^rcssion of liUi^lisJi Duiiicstic Clvch
4S3
A very fine chiniini^' clock by Tonipion, with canopied head, wliich
is at Windsor Castle, is shown in V'v^. 624. The upper part of the
"^
Fig. 624. — Tompion
clock at Windsor Castle.
Fig. 626. — Tompion one
Fig. 625. — Tompion. year timepiece at the
about 1700. Admiralty.
case is particularly good. The trusses supporting the hood, though
somewhat unusual features, have an excellent effect.
I I 2
484 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
MlQ
ff^
Fig. 627. — Thos. Tompion,
1676-1680.
Fig. 628.— Ed. East,
1680-1685.
Fig. 629.— Jos. Knibb,
1685-1630.
The Pi'O^^rcssiou of English Domestic Clocks. 485
Another clock hv 'r()nii)i()n, Fig. 625, dating from about 1700, is
the property of Mr. Jolni W Trotter of Hexham. 'J"he case is of
oak \eneerecl witli wahiut, and has a rather tall plinth and narrow
body ; on eacli side of the dial is a spirally fluted pillar, and a hand-
some carved ornament surmounts the entablature. The clock is in
perfect order, and Mr. Trotter speaks of the hands as the finest pair
he has ever seen. Fig. 626 represents a Tompion one-year time-
piece which is now at the Admiralty. 'I'he hours are marked twice
from I to XII, and at the top of the hood is the inscription, "Pre-
sented by Queen Anne." The case is certainly later than Queen
Anne's time, as I ha\e already said, and the dial looks more like
Graham's production than Tompion's. It is quite likely that the
timekeeper was ordered of Tompion and intended for Greenwich
Observatory and that Graham's well-known desire to make as
reliable an astronomical regulator as possible caused considerable
delay in its construction. A very similar twelve-month timepiece
bearing Tompion's name, in the possession of the Royal Society, is
inscribed, " Sir Jonas Moore caused this movement to be made with
great care, Anno Domini 1676." It was presented to the Society
in 1736.
The specimen shown in Fig. 628 by Edward East is from the
Wetherfield collection and dates from 1680-16S5. It has a dial
gi inches square, goes 8 days, and is in a walnut case with marque-
terie panels showing flowers, birds and butterflies ; somewhat coarse
but effecti^■e. The hood has a canopied top with brass side
ornaments.
From the same collection, and of slightly later date, is the fine
eight-day clock with lo-inch square dial, by Joseph Knibb, shown in
Fig. 629. The case of oak is covered with burr walnut oyster-shell
veneer, the sides are panelled and inlaid down the front with large
rosettes of dark and light wood mixed. There are gilt bases and
capitals to the corkscrew pillars at the corners of the hood, and over
the entablature is a finely carved ornament. There are two bells of
Chinese gong shape and on the smaller of these the preceding hour
is repeated at the half-hour.
As a specimen of fine marqueterie extending over the whole of
the front and sides of the case, the clock shown in Fig. 630, which
dates from about 1695, i^ worth notice. The dial plate is 1 1 inches
square and below the hour circle is inscribed, " James Clowes,
Londini fecit." It is from the Wetherfield collection, as also are
the fine example of bird and flower marqueterie co\'ering a clock by
4^6 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
■% «! /
^ I
Fig. C30. — Jas. Clowes,
about 1695.
A I, ^.
fAVI
:7'^^>-
iV;
w
I IG. 631. — Jonathan Lowndes,
about 1695.
y i
Fig. 632. — Dan Quare,
about 1705.
TJic Prof^yessioii of Eiiglif^Ji Domestic Clocks. 4S7
^ « /
: 5^*55
■■t"!?S^?ir?9;!?ST.t
3
Fig. 633. —Joshua
Hutchin, about 1700,
Fig. G34. — 1'. Garon, about Fig. 635. — Thos. Tompion :
1705. month clock, about 1700.
488
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
V'
Fig. 636. — Thos. Tompion,
about 1705. See p. 461.
Fig. 637. — One year timepiece
by Daniel Quare.
Fig. 638. — Danl. Delander
year equation timepiece,
about 1720.
Jonathan Lowndes, shown in Fig. 631, and the splendid clock,
Fig. 632, which is of later date. It has a dial 12 inches square ; the
name " Dan : Quare " being engraved between the hour numerals
TJic Pro^i^rcssion of Ens^lisJi Domestic Clocks. 489
fL^
#
JR
1/ i'
R^
•/t,
!%^>«)
Fig. 639. — Carved dark oak;
nondescript.
!./■
|i|r.y.-.:,,i,',|
llr*^2;.^ii;li|li
r ^
;?M"f;i^"'IIT'J
Fig. 640. — Oriental
lacquer-work, about
1740.
.J^^
\\ \" /
Fig. 641. — Philip Abbot ; red
lacquer case, about 1750,
490 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Fig. 642. — At Windsor
Castle : Richard Vick,
about 1730.
Fig. 643. — Reputed
Chippendale case.
Fig. 644. — Simpson,
Southwell, about 1790.
VII and VI and "London" between VI and V. The case is
decorated with marqueteile, birds and flowers arranged in panels
with scroll borders around the door framing and the plinth ; the
pillars at the hood corners are also covered with marqueterie.
The Progrcsainu of English Domestic Clocks. 491
An example c^f iiiarqueterie arranged in geometrical patterns is
shown in Fig. 633 which represents a clock by Joshua Hutchin
belonging to Mr. W. K. l>owen. The case, of walnut, is inlaid with
stars, curved hexagons, etc., and a broad herring-bone border which
runs around the door, up the sides, and across the top of the body ;
a banding inside this border is interspersed w ith bits of red wood at
intervals of three inches. The stars and hexagons are picked out
with holly and set in selected pieces of yew.
An eight-day chiming clock by Peter Garon, in a very tine
arabesque marqueterie case, the property of Mr. J. Drunnnond
Robertson, is shown in Fig. 634.
The Tompion clock, Fig. 635, is from the Wetherfield collection, as
IS also the tw-elve-month timepiece by Daniel Quare show-n in Fig. 637,
which is remarkable for the somewhat peculiar outline of the case
and for its extremely beautiful marqueterie surface. Of the sub-
sidiary discs in the upper corners of the dial plate the right hand
one is a twelve-month calendar and that on the left is engraved
" Tempus a?quale " and " Tempus apparens," and the main dial can
be caused to show at pleasure either mean time or solar time
according as the pointer is set.
A one-year equation timepiece by Daniel Delander, shown in
Fig. 638, is also the property of Mr. Wetherfield.
Dark oak cases carved in high relief do not seem to have been
the fashion of any particular period, but the result rather of occasional
efforts by enthusiastic artists in wood, and then in most instances
they appear to have been made to enclose existing clocks in
substitution for inferior or worn-out coverings. Of the specimen
shown in Fig. 639, I was fa\-oured with a drawing by the owner,
whose name I ha\'e unfortunately mislaid. The maker of the clock
was Thomas Haden, and it possibly dates from about 1720, but to
assign a date for the case would be mere guesswork ; its outline
is suggesti\e of the Chippendale period.
Oriental Lacquer. — Cases coated with black, red or green
lacquer or with a coating of lacquer on black, red or green ground,
the surface being decorated in the Chinese or Japanese style more
or less in relief and gilded, were much in favour from about 17 10 to
1750. It is said that at first these cases were sent by ships engaged
in the tea trade to China to be decorated, and that a delay of two years
or so would occur before they reached England again. Then the
Dutch engaged in the art, and afterwards the lacquering or japanning
of cases was practised in England. While a few of the specimens now
492
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
to be met with are worthy of admiration, the greater number attract
merely by reason of the grotesque appearance of the ornament.
gi^s^»jiS
Fig. 645. — Chippen-
dale.
Fig. 646. — Chippen-
dale.
:i^iiiiii;i:i!.!i^li:!iil'ii'ilii'ii.:^!ii
Fig. 647. — Chippendale.
A square-headed clock case with the Oriental lacquer-work
decoration in relief, is shown in Fig. 640. The clock, which was in
the possession of Mr. John T. Trotter, bore the name of Anthony
The Pi'ogycssion of English Domestic Clocks. 4Q3
^i^
Figs. 648, 649. — Chippendale bracket cases.
Tigs. 6jo, 651.— Chippendale bracket cases.
494
Old Clocks and ]]\itcJics and their Makers.
Marsh, who was free of the Clockmakers' Company in 1726, and it
may be assumed to have been made about 1740. An unusually fine
1^
Fig. 652.— Chippendale. Fig, 653.— Marqueterie, 177c
Fig. 654. — Timepiece
by Ainsworth Thwaites
at the India Office.
red lacquer case, covering a clock by Philip Abbot, in the Wether-
field collection, and dating from about 1750, is shown in Fig. 641.
The Pn\^rcssioii of J^iii^iisli Domestic Clocks. 495
Chippendale. — Examples of what is generally accepted as an
ortliodox Chippendale case are represented on page 490. It is not
easy to define exactly w hat constitutes a Cliippendale case, nor why
cases of this pattern should be ascribed to Chippendale. Tliomas
Chippendale was a noted upliolsterer and cabinet-maker in St.
Martin's Lane. He published a splendid folio book of designs, of
whicli three editions appeared between 1755 and 17^13. Figs. 645,
646, 647 and 652 are copied from liis work by fa\our of Mr. 13. T.
Batsford. It must be confessed none of them bears a \ery close
resemblance to the reputed Chippendale patterns. There are also
representations of two other long-case clocks, the bracket-clock cases
shown in Figs. 648, 649, 650 and 651, a cartel case, and two other
small wall timepiece cases. The two long cases I have not repro-
duced are carved very much in the French style, as I'^igs. 494, 495,
Chapter \I. The characteristics of the cases now usually known as
" Chippendale " are the pillars or pilasters rising at the front corners
of the case, from the plinth to the entablature under the hood, and
the corresponding pillars at the front corners of the hood. Generally
the bases and caps are of metal, and the shafts fluted. The case
is much higher than the dial, and the top of the pattern shown in
Figs. 642 and 643, which is considered the more correct, or of the
horn-top kind, in which the upper part terminates in two carved
scrolls, curving inwards. It will be observed that the head above
the dial in Fig. 642 is high, and niost after the style of Chippen-
dale's drawings. This clock was made by Richard Vick and is at
Windsor Castle, and is earlier than Chippendale's time. The
horn-top style, which was very popular with pro\'incial makers, is
later. For the horn or scroll-top case shown in Fig. 644 I am
indebted to Mr. H. Cook of Newark. It encloses a chiming
clock by Simpson of Southwell, dating from about 1790, and is
an excellent example of that period. There are no pillars between
the plinth and the hood but the front corners of the waist are boldly
chamfered.
Sheraton. — Thomas Sheraton was born at Stockton-on-Tees in
1751 and died in London in 1806. In 1791 was issued " The Cabinet-
Makers' and Upholsterers' Drawing Book" by him, and in 1S03
" The Cabinet Dictionary," of which another edition appeared in
1808. No mention is made of clock cases in the first edition of this
work. From the later edition are copied Figs. 655 and 656. Though
rarely made in this form with square dials, the ornate style and
beautiful inlaid work associated with Sheraton have been very
496
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
successfully applied by clock-case makers, and the popularity of
Sheraton cases has never declined.
J
Fig. 655. — Sheraton
case.
Fig. 656. — Sheraton case.
Fig. 657, — Clock by
William Button,
about 1780.
In Fig. 659 is shown a remarkably fine musical clock with moving
figures, the property of Mr. E. E. Cook of Walton-on-Thames. It
was made by Pickett of Marlboro', and dates from about 17S0. The
Tlic Pro'^rcssion of Eiii^lish Dnutcsiic Clocks. 497
Fig. 658.— At Windsor Castle Fig. 659.— Clock with moving • Fig. 660.— Jas. Lorimer,
by Recordon, about 1800. figures, about 17S0. musical clock, about 1780.
silvered dial is engraved with urns and just inside the usual numeral
circle and concentric therewith is a date circle to which an index
from the centre points.
c.w. ,.. V
498 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
At 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock one of the following tunes is played : —
1. Marlbro' |igg. 4. Batt's Hornpipe.
2. Jack's ligg. 5. Ben's Delight.
3. Ned's Hornpipe. 6. Head's Whim.
These tunes are enumerated in the right-hand spandrel ; the left-
hand spandrel contains a chime-silent hand. In the arch of the
dial is a curtain which rises when the clock chimes and a male and
female figure are discovered dancing. Below them is a river and a
bridge ; over the bridge people, carts, etc. pass, including a man
carrying his wife to avoid the toll, which, tradition says, refers to a
local bridge w^here a heavy toll was exacted. Below the bridge,
swans, boats, etc. pass to and fro on the water. In the lower part
of the main dial is a moon calendar. On p. 474 the dial is shown
to an enlarged scale.
A musical clock of large size, the property of Mr. R. Eden
Dickson, Glemham Hall, Suffolk, is shown in Fig. 660. The case
of mahogany is 8 feet 5 inches high and the dial measures 18^ inches
by 22 inches. The quarters are chimed on eight bells, and at every
three hours, after the quarters are chimed and the hours struck, a
tune is played. There are sixteen bells and twenty-four hammers ;
the music barrel is 14 J inches long and 3 inches in diameter. The
subsidiary dials are " strike-silent " and " chime-silent," the name
"James Lorimer, London" being on the plate between, while in the
arch above is the following list of tunes : —
I.
La Promenade.
7-
I do as T will with my Swain.
2.
Gavot.
8.
Lays of Paties Mill.
3-
Minuet.
9-
Flowers of Edinburgh.
4-
Bagnigge Wells.
10.
Cuckoo's Nest.
5-
Duke of Gloucester's
IVIarch.
II.
Tweed side.
6.
Neu Alamand.
12.
Portsmouth Psalm.
The pendulum rod is of ebony, and above the bob on a small brass
plate is engraved " John Marshall, London."
The handsome clock shown in Fig. 654 was made by Ainsworth
Thwaites for the East India Company about 1770; the case is of
figured wood, doubtless of Indian growth. A companion case,
which originally held a dial to record the direction of the wind,
seems to have mysteriously disappeared from the offices of the
Company and to have been found on the Continent, where it was
purchased by an official of the English Government, and the two
now appropriately occupy positions in a room at the India Office,
being symmetrically placed one on each side of the fireplace.
Fig. 657 represents a long-case clock of novel design by W'illiant
The Pi'Oi^i-cfision of Jiiii^^lisJi Donicsiic Clocks
499
Duttoii, dating from about 1780, for which I am indebted to Mr.
Thomas W'yatt. The case, just upon 10 feet in heip^ht, is of pine
and mahogany painted light blue and white. The dial is of brass
with a convex enamelled centre. The movement has a dead beat
escapement and a gridiron compensated pendulum. The lunar ball
in the arch of the dial is nutated from the hour wheel arbor, on
\\hi(-h is cut a screw to dri\-e tlu' inlcrmediatc lunar train. IV'low
Fig. 661.
the moon is an oblong slit through which appears the day of the
month.
As examples of the plain early nineteenth century clocks of the
best class with circular enamelled dials, and usually in cases of
mahogany with finely figured surfaces, may be taken the one by
Vulliamy illustrated on p. 351 and one by Recordon shown in
Fig. 658. For a really perfect dial on this plan one has to go to a
comparatively obscure provincial maker, see Fig. 617.
The introduction of cheap American clocks was disastrous to the
K K 2
500
Old Clocks and l]^ntchcs and their Makers.
old English ones, and between 1850 and i860 thousands of good
serviceable long-case timekeepers were sacrificed, the cases being
chopped up for firewood and the substantial brass movements
consigned to the melting-pot.
Bracket or Pedestal Clocks. — Bracket or pedestal clocks, with
enriched cases, as distinguished from the plain metal covering of the
Fig. 662.
ordinary chamber clock, were in favour before the advent of the
long-case variety.
Of the early types with metal cases, examples have already been
■given. During the latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning
of the eighteenth centu-ry the square '• squat" case of wood with a
fiat top and plain metal handle for lifting it by, or with a perforated
metal dome-shaped addition, chased and gilded, called basket-work,
The Proi^rcssioii of Eiv^lisJ] Doiiicsiic Clocks.
5"T
suniunuittHl by an enriched handle, was \-ery popular. Engraxings
of this variety are given on pages 266 and 267.
Fig. 661 is a specimen by John Harris, London, dating from about
1680, for which I am indebted to Mr. \\'i]liam Newton.
The example shown in Fig. 662 is by Ben Collier, London, and
Fig. 663,
belongs to Mr. G. H. Jocelyn, Writtle, Essex. ]\L. J. Drummond
Robertson has a clock by Claudius Du Chesne, London, with an
unusually fine double basket top, as shown in P^ig. 663. Fig. 664
by Tompion, is from the Wetherfield collection. Mr. Frank Jones,
W'estcliff, has a very similar piece. After the " basket " came the
" bell " shaped case, so called from the hollow curved character
of the top, as seen in Fig. 665. This is a very early example of
i02
Old Clocks and IVatchcs and their Makers.
that style, also in the collection of Mr. J. D. Robertson. It dates
from about 1690, and is inscribed, "Stephen Asselin, London."
Fig. 666 shows the back plate of the John Harris clock, on page
499. It is noteworthy by reason of the excellent engraving and the
Fig. 664. — Thos. Tompion, eight-day striking clock ; repeats
quarters by pulling the knob and string on the right. Above
ttie dial are pointers : one at the left hand corner for regulation
and one at the right hand corner to change from " strike " to
"not strike." Between these is inscribed, " Tho. Tompion,
Londini fecit.''
ornamental " cock " or cover over the pendulum suspension. Another
admirable back plate, shown in Fig. 667, by favour of Mr. J. D.
Robertson, bears the name of Thomas Parker, Dublin. The cock is
similar to that on Sir Isaac Newton's clock in the Guildhall
Museum.
The Proi:;rcss!oii af Jiir^lish Domestic Clocks.
503
The " lu'll " top case continued in faxour lon^' alter the intro-
duction of the arclied dial. Two views (Figs. 668 and 669) are
appended of an early arch dial bracket clock, belonging to Mr.
Schloss, which was made (juite at the beginning of the eighteenth
century by Jeremiah Hartley of Norwich. The case is of ebonized
wood with brass mounts. In the spandrels of the arch and at the
sides is pierced diaper work backed by silk, to permit the sound of
Fig. 665.
the bell to escape and yet pre\ent the ingress of dust. The engraving
of the dial and the back plate is very fine indeed, and the work
throughout is really admirable. The clock shows days of the month,
strikes the hours and quarters, and the strokes corresponding to the
previous striking may be repeated at pleasure by pulling a string
terminating in the knob which is seen at the right of the front view.
In the arch of the dial is a rise and fall regulator which adjusts the
length of the pendulum.
504
Old Clocks and ]]\iicJics and their Makers.
Q
A later bell top case with fine claw feet, and surmounted by a
plain brass handle instead of the
side handles, is show^n in Fig.
670. From the presence of tlie
strike-silent hand, one may place
the date of this at about 1740.
Of the more ornate styles in
\ ogue during the second quarter
of the eighteenth century, the
clock by Graham on page 287
affords a good idea.
\\'hat perhaps may be termed
a sporadic case of very elegant
design is shown in Fig. 671,
by favour of Mr. William
Home, Leyburn, Yorkshire. The
clock is undoubtedly the work of
Fdward East, and dates probably
from about 1685, but the case is
in many respects characteristic
Fig. 666.
of the Sheraton style. It is
of iron with brass mountings,
finely chased and gilt, and
measures 2 feet 2 inches high,
and 12 inches broad. On the
dial of brass is engraved a
peacock in full plume. On
the back plate of the movement
is engraved a basket of flowers,
and underneath the inscription,
" Ediiardiis East, London.''
In Figs. 672 and 673, are
shown a \'ery large musical
clock by " William Webster,
Exchange Alley," and in Fig.
674, by way of contrast, a
diminutive specimen bearing
the name " Chevrier." Both ^'''- ^^7-
are from the collection of Mr. Eden Dickson. The Webster clock
is 26 inches high, the dial being it,^ inches by 9 inches.
There
Tltc Pro!:;irssioii o/ Iini^lisli Domestic Clock:'
505
k
5o6
Old Clocks and ]]\itches and tJicir Makers.
are 24 tunes engraved in three lines on the dial, and of these each
cylinder plays eight. The tunes are as follows : —
ist. Granadiers' March. 2nd. A youngVirginof 15. 3rd. ButifuU Phillis.
A Minuet.
The Rumer.
The Spanish Jigg.
A Riggadoon.
Thomas, I cannot.
Don't you tickle me.
3 Generals' Health.
A English Sible.
Sweet is our Blessing.
The Mouse-trap.
A Minuet.
A Jigg.
An Ayre.
The Happy Clown.
Gle.Raingeall round.
O Nymph of Race
Divine.
Hunt ye Squirel.
Bright Aurelia.
St. George's Minuet.
A Minuet.
Soldiers Rejoyce.
The music is played every three hours, at 12, 3, 6 and g, the air
being given twice each
time. There are twelve
bells and two hammers
for each. The cylinders
are each 10 inches
long and i^ inch in
diameter. Those not in
use are kept ' in a drawer
in the plinth of the case.
The clock has also a full
(juarter movement,
arranged to strike on six
of the chime bells.
The Chevrier clock is
in an ebony case, 18
inches high, the dial being
yh inches by 5^. The
numerals are in Turkish
characters. The following
six tunes are played : — i
An Italian air. 2. A
Minuet. 3. Bright Aurelia.
4. Ye King enjoys his own.
5. Italian Minuet. 6. A
seventeen hammers on nine
W^
Fig. 670.
The chime barrel plays
Rigadoon
bells.
The charming diminutive clock by Josiah Emery, with bracket,
shown in Fig. 675, is from the Wetherfield collection.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century the popularity of the
" bell-top " case waned, and it was gradually supplanted by three
set patterns, the " broken arch," the " balloon," and the " lancet."
The Proi^rcssioii of Eii^tj^lisli Doiiicslic Clocks.
507
Tlie "broken arch" was not, as mi^dit be supposed, a circular
pediment cut away in the middle, but an arched top not extending
to the full width of the dial, the moulding surmounting the arch
being continued from its springing along the front of the case in
Fig. 671.
two short straight bands. This seems to ha\e been taken from
Chippendale's bracket cases, as in Figs. 648, 649, 650, 651, all of
which have circular pediments of this kind, but the ornamental
superstructure as suggested by Chippendale was not adopted. What
is generally accepted as a " broken arch " case is shown in Fig. 676.
50^
Old Clucks and ]]^aichcs and their Makers.
It enclosed a clock dating from about 1790, by John Thwaites, an
eminent maker who was several times master of the Clockmakers'
Company.
A wide broken-arch mahogany case, containing a musical clock by
Stephen Rimbault, is shown in Fig. 677. The clock plays six tunes
on eleven bells. One air is " God Save the King " ; the others are
now obsolete and not easily
recognized, but ne doubt
they were most popular
about 1780, when the clock
was made. A fine musical
clock by Rimbault, which
was formerly the property
of Sir William Drake, is in
the Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford.
Stephen Rimbault
carried on business in
Great St. Andrew's Street,
St. Giles, and was a maker
of repute, particularly
excelling in clocks, with
mechanical figures dancing
or working on the dials,
and other complicated
timekeepers. The artist
Zoffany was for some time
Rimbault's decorative
assistant, and in him his
master had a man of great
ability and taste, who no
doubt helped to make his
name. Zoffany painted a
portrait of his master
which pleased Rimbault so much that he introduced him to
Wilson, the portrait painter. Zoffany was then employed by Wilson
to fill in draperies, etc., at a salary of £40 a year, and while with
him his ability was recognized by David Garrick, Avho put him
into the channel of theatrical portraiture, where he made his name,
becoming R.A. in 1798.
A very excellent example of a " balloon " case and bracket is
Fig. 672. — Musical clock by Wm. Webster.
TJic Pro<^i'cssioii of Eiif^^lisJi Domestic Clocks
509
given in Fig. 678, for which I am indebted to Mr. Webster. They
were generally plain in outline, and inlaid after the Sheraton style,
but their beauty really lay in the graceful harmony of the curves
constituting the case and bracket which together formed a complete
and pleasing design. The clock enclosed in this case was made by
Robert Wood, of Moorfields, about i jcjo. The round knob on top of
Fig. 673. — Back of musical clock by Wm. Webster.
the case served to regulate the time by shortening or lengthening the
effective part of the pendulum.
In Fig. 679 is a later and more ornate form of balloon clock
at Windsor Castle. Its appearance is somewhat disappointing,
for without a bracket this style of case is shorn of its beautiful
outline.
The " lancet " case, in form the counterpart of a pointed Gothic
arch, and named from its resemblance to the well-known cutting
instrument used by surgeons, is shown in Fig. 680. This clock.
510
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
dating from about 1820, was made by George Orpwood. Ornamental
engraving on the back plate, which characterized all the best bracket
clocks up to the end of the eighteenth century, is rarely seen
on nineteenth century productions. With the engraved plate
disappeared, of course, the glazed door at the back of the case. The
utilitarian spirit, which abolished these features as redundant, has,
however, caused fine specimens which survive to be more highly
prized. What can look meaner than the bare and often common
wood at the back of many pretentious modern clocks if one of them
happens to be in front of a mirror.
Soon after its introduction, the
pendulum was occasionally placed
outside of the case in front of the dial,
especially in small clocks like Fig.
371, but I saw a very fine bracket
clock arranged in this way. It was
by John Trubshaw, of London, and
dated from about 1700. To put the
pendulum outside is not a good plan,
for it is clearly more liable to dis-
turbance than when suspended inside
the case. Captain Edward Leth-
bridge informed me that in the hall
of Hinton Ampner House, near
Alresford, is a timepiece, probably
of German origin, in an o\al case of
embossed silver measuring about 20
inches by 12 inches, mounted on a
velvet block. The pendulum reaches
from the top to the bottom of the
case, and swings in the front on the outside of the dial. This also
would probably be a very early eighteenth century production.
On page 516 are front, side, and back views of an English travel-
ling clock, dating from about 1710, which is interesting by its rarity,
for it is a type, I think, but very seldom seen. From the bottom of
the case to the top of the swivelled knob below the carrying ring
measures 8 inches. The movement is signed " Paulet, London."
But little is known of Paulet except that a watch by him is at the
South Kensington Museum and that in 1730 he worked for EUicott,
though by his name he was piobably of French descent. The gilt
metal work of the case of this clock is finely pierced and carved,
Fig. 674.
'Jlic rrogirssion of Jiiii^lish nomcstic Clocks.
511
arabesques and faces being executed in a style not usual at this
period on clock cases of English manufacture. The dial and back
plates are coxered with open lace work of hammered siher.
Besides repeating the hours and quarters, the clock is provided
with an alarum, and in a semicircle occupying the arch of the
dial the day of the month
is indicated. It belongs to
Mr. Schloss.
Taxes Relating to Clocks
and Watches. — Legislation
has on more than one occasion
affected the material used for
watch cases. In 1719 a duty of
sixpence an ounce was imposed
on articles of silver, and this
quickly led to an increased use
of base metal cases. In 1758
an annual payment of forty
shillings by dealers was sub-
stituted for the duty, and in
1759 the amount to be paid for
a licence was raised to £^.
But in 1784 the duty of six-
pence per ounce was reimposed
in addition to the dealer's
licence. The effect was remark-
able ; the use of silver inmie-
diately declined, and for the
next fourteen years large num-
bers of base metal cases were
made. In 1797 a tax of eight
shillings an ounce was levied
on gold articles, which doubt-
less would have led to an
increased use of silver gilt and
pinchbeck cases, but that Pitt,
not content with taxing the cases, at the same time imposed a tax
on all persons in respect of the possession and use of watches as
well as clocks. The Act ordained that — •
" For and upon every Clock or Timekeeper, by whatever name the
same shall be called, which shall be used for the purpose of a clock
Fig. 675. — Josiah Emery, eight-day :
pull repeating quarters on six
bells.
112
Old Clocks and JVatchcs and their Makers.
and placed in or upon any dwelling house, or any office or building
thereunto belonging, or any other Building whatever, whether private
or publick, belonging to any person or persons, or Company of
Persons, or any Body Corporate, or Politick, or Collegiate, or which
shall be kept and used, by any Person or Persons in Great Britain,
there shall be charged an Annual Duty of Five Shillings. For and
Fig. 676.
upon every Gold Watch, or Watch enamelled on Gold, or Gold
Timekeeper used for the Purpose of a Watch by whatever Name the
same shall be called, which shall be kept, and worn, or used, by any
Person or Persons in Great Britain, there shall be charged an
Annual Duty of Ten Shillings. And for and upon every Silver or
Metal Watch, or Silver or Metal Timekeeper used for the purpose
of a Watch or any other watch, or Timekeeper used for the like
purpose, not before charged, of whatever materials the same shall be
made, and by whatever name the same shall be called, which shall
The Pi'o<j:;ycssio}i of Eui^iish Domestic Clocks.
513
be kept and worn, or used, by any Person, there shall be charged an
Annual Duty of Two Shillings and Sixpence."
It recjuires an effort to realize that such an impost prevailed but
little over a century ago. Among other provisions of the Act was
one declaring tliat every watch or clock maker or dealer in the cities
m
^^
,.
Fig. 6:
-Chiming clock by S. Rimbault.
of London and Westminster, the parishes of St. Marylebone and
St. Pancras, the Counties of Middlesex and Surrey shall pay an
annual duty of two shillings and sixpence. In any other part of
the country such a maker or dealer was let off by paying a shilling
duty.
The produce was far from reaching the estimated yield, while the
operation of the tax was such as nearly to ruin manufacturers. The
c.w. L L
514
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
demand for clocks and watches decreased to such an extent, that in
less than a year the general manufacture of these articles in the
kingdom, and the various branches of trade connected therewith, had
diminished by one-half, and thousands of persons were deprived of
Fig. 678.
employment. It is not therefore surprising that the Act was repealed
in April, 1798.
A writer in Notes and Queries mentions that he met with a printed
form of receipt for a half-year's taxes, due from a small farmer in
Essex, in which occurred the item, " for clocks and watches, 5 , 7^^,"
The Prot^ression of Iin;^lisJi Domestic Clocks.
5r5
The receipt was dated
April I o, I 798, the
month in whicli the Act
was repealed.
Although the imposi-
tion of this obnoxious
tax paralyzed the horo-
logical trades, it had the
effect of creating one
new kind of timekeeper ;
for tavern keepers,
anticipating a scarcity
of timekeepers among
individuals, with one
mind seem to have
adopted a bold mural
timepiece for the benefit
of those who visited
their public rooms.
Mural timepieces with
large dials were, of
course, in use before
Fig. 679.
1797, and by favour of Sir George
Birdwood I am enabled to represent
in Fig. 684 a handsome one, which
is now at the India Office. It was
formerly at the entrance to the
Special Assistants' Room at the
House of the East India Company
in Leadenhall Street, and dates from
about 1740.
An " Act of Parliament " clock
was altogether a plainer afifair. It
had usually a large dial of wood,
painted black, wath gilt figures, not
covered by a glass, and a trunk
L L 2
f
»
The Pro<^i'essioii of Eii^^lisli Domestic Clocks.
517
long enough to allow of a seconds pendulum. In country inns and
other places Act of Parliament clocks may still occasionally be seen.
The appended illustration (Fig. 685) of a specimen at Windsor Castle
with a white dial is curious, inasmuch as the fourth hour is indicated
by 1\'. instead of thealmost universal IIII.
Fig. 684. — Mural timepiece, India Office.
Fig. 68t.
Act of Parliament " clock.
Watchmakers obtained from Parliament in 1 798 some little recom-
pense for the dire e.xtremity to which they had been reduced, for from
that time watch cases have been exempt from the plate duty. But watch
manufacturers had nevertheless to continue the annual plate licence,
although watch case makers were absolved from the necessity of doing so.
In 1803 the licence underwent further alteration ; for trading in gold
over 2 dwts. and under 2 oz., or in silver over 5 dwts. and under 30 oz.,
an annual payment of £2 6s. was then demanded, and for trading in gold
or silver articles above those weights an annual pavment of {^ 15s.
( 5i8 )
CHAPTER VIII.
MECHANISM OF CLOCKS AND WATCHES.
The Pendulum. — It is not certain who used the pendulum as a
controller for clocks. Galileo, the famous astronomer, in 1582
remarked the synchronous vibrations of the lamps suspended by long
chains from the roof of the cathedral at Pisa, and it is said that when
blind he dictated to his son Vincent a method of using the pendulum
as a timekeeper, which the latter carried out in 1649. From the
drawing of this contrivance it seems to hsLve been merely a train of
wheels and a rude escapement to keep a pendulum in motion, in
order to determine the time by counting its vibrations. It is
shown in Fig. 686, and a working model of it is to be seen at South
Kensington Museum.
In the Vienna Treasury is a clock dating from the early part of
the seventeenth century, and furnished with a pendulum which it is
contended was invented by the maker of the clock, J. Burgi, of
Prague, who was appointed as clockmaker to Rudolph II. in 1602.
Then it is stated that Richard Harris constructed a turret clock
with a pendulum for the church of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, which
has since been burnt down. The authority for this statement rests
chiefly on an engraved plate affixed in the vestry-room of the old
church, with the following inscription on it : —
" The turret clock and bells of this church were made a.d. 1797,
by Thomas Grignon, of Great Russell Street, Covent Garden, the
son and successor of Thomas Grignon, who (a.d. 1740) brought to
perfection what the celebrated Tompion and Graham never effected,
viz., the horizontal principle in watches and the dead beat in clocks,
which dead beat is a part of the mechanism of the turret clock.
Thomas Grignon, senior, made the time-piece in the pediment at
the east end of this parish church, destroyed by fire a.d. 1795. The
clock fixed in the turret of the said church was the first long
pendulum clock in Europe, invented and made by Richard Harris,
of London, a.d. 1641, although the honour of the invention was
assumed by Vincenzio Galilei, a.d. 1649, and also by Huygens in
Mechanism of Clocks and Watches.
519
1657. This plate is here affixed by Thomas Grignon, of this parish,
the son of the above Thomas Grignon, as a true memorial of praise
to those two skilful mechanicians, his father and Richard Harris,
who, to the honour of England, embodied their ideas in substantial
forms that are most useful to mankind."
It would be idle to treat this as conclusi\e evidence in favour of
Harris ; still it is entitled
to consideration, for the
elder Grignon alluded to
was regarded as a man
of integrity. He was
a contemporary and
friend of James Fer-
guson, and one of the
first members of the
Society of Arts, to which
society he in 1759 pre-
sented a regulator, which
is yet to be seen at the
house of the society in the
Adelphi. Besides, that
Galileo's observation
would be followed by the
application of a pendulum
to a clock is only just
what might have been
expected. The weak part
of the claim on behalf of
Harris is that his appli-
cation of a superior con-
troller should have re-
mained a solitary instance for twelve years or so, and have evoked
no attention from scientists and others interested in the subject.
Huygens, it is certain, studied the action of the pendulum
between 1650 and 1655, and demonstrated the fact that the path
described as the centre of oscillation should be a cycloid for vibra-
tions of varying extent to be passed through in the same time.
Dr. Hooke also saw the advantage of the pendulum about the
same time, and proceeded to apply it.
Fromanteel and others have also been named with confidence
by their respective admirers as being entitled to the honour of
Fig 686.
520 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
introducing the pendulum ; but indisputable proof of any one's
claim to originality in the matter there is none, and it is therefore
useless to pursue this part of the subject further.
Striking Work. — Recording the completion of each hour by
strokes on a bell has always been regarded as an important function
of public timekeepers. In some of the early clocks, notably the first
one at St. Paul's Cathedral, the sound of the striking was the sole
indicator of time provided, and in many later edifices, where the
exhibition of dials was considered to be incongruous with the general
design, timekeepers similarly restricted have been adopted and their
convenience appreciated. The Church of St. Vedast, Foster Lane,
may be mentioned as an instance of a public building with a tower
clock which struck but had no dial. Clocks striking the quarters
as well as the hours are common enough, but Westminster Abbey
furnishes a solitary instance of striking work for the quarters only.
This is done, not by the turret clock with the well-known exterior
dial, but by the timekeeper in the Poet's Corner, which is also
peculiar in being probably the largest spring clock ever made, for
the barrels and fusees are each over seven inches in diameter.
Some of the early Dutch and German clocks were furnished with
two bells, one larger than the other, mounted on the top of the
case. The hour was struck on the larger bell ; the first quarter
noted by one stroke on the smaller bell ; at the half-hour strokes
corresponding in number to the previous hour were given on the
smaller bell, and the third quarter was proclaimed by one stroke
on the larger bell. This plan has the advantage of giving fuller
information than modern methods. Where one stroke is given at
the half-hour, as in most modern French clocks, half-past twelve,
one, and half-past one convey the same unmeaning sound.
As described on page 455, the Friesland hood clocks indicated the
half-hour by repeating on a smaller bell strokes corresponding to the
hour last completed.
An excellent arrangement for striking on two bells, as carried out
by Joseph Knibb, is described on page 310.
Unless altered very recently, the clock at the church of St. Clement
Danes, in the Strand, strikes each hour twice. The strokes are given
first on a large bell, weighing 24 cwt., and then repeated on the
Sanctus — a bell in the spire which is said to date back to the
fifteenth century, and to have been one of the bells used before
the Reformation. On account of the roar of traffic along the road,
the striking cannot be heard except at night, and when it is heard
Mechanism of Clocks and ]Vatchcs. 521
the effect is curious, for the repetition appears to the uninitiated to
be the tardy striking of another clock in some adjacent tower.
Clocks are occasionally to be seen which strike the hours from
one to six four times over during the twenty-four hours. In many
parts of southern Italy the hours were regularly sounded in this way.
The Japanese had a decidedly ingenious method of sounding the
hour and half-hour, which is described on page 444.
Should the present method of s|)litting the day into two periods
of twelve hours each be abandoned in fa\our of continuous counting
of the hours from one to twenty-four, the striking would possibly be
re-arranged, and the plans just described give a choice for selection.
The earliest device for causing the hours to be struck automatically
appears to be the locking-plate construction, as shown in De Vick's
clock. A modification of this principle, to ensure greater exactness
by using quicker moving parts to unlock the striking train, is still
the most favoured for turret clocks. For house clocks the rack
principle invented by Barlow is generally preferred, because in this
the striking corresponds with the position of the hands on the dial,
whereas with the locking-plate the hours are sounded successively
without regard to the hands.
Watch Movements. — Most of the early watches of pocket size
were arranged to run for from twelve to sixteen hours between
successive windings, the fusee making from ten to twehe turns.
The train usually consisted of the great wheel which drove a pinion
carrying the second wheel ; the second wheel drove a pinion carrying
the contrate wheel, and the last named drove the pinion carrying the
escape wheel. The great wheel was fixed to its arbor, one end of
which fitted loosely into a long hole in the larger end of the fusee,
the other end was carried in a hole in that plate of the movement
which is nearest the dial, and on the very extremity of this end was
a pinion, usually of the lantern kind, gearing with a wheel whose
pipe projected through the centre of the dial and carried the hand.
Pinions ha^ang five leaves were, so far as my observation goes,
almost invariably used for the train, and for the wheel teeth the
following numbers : great wheel, 55 ; second, 45 ; contrate, 40 ;
escape wheel, 15. A projection from the verge "banked" against
the potence to prevent overrunning. There being a wheel and
pinion less in the train than is usual now, the escape wheel ran
the reverse way ; its teeth and the verge therefore appear to be
left-handed to the modern watchmaker.
John Fitter, about 1665, made a watch with the extra wheel and
522
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
pinion, the contrate wheel of which turned once in a minute, but
there is no doubt the longer train was not generally viewed with
favour till the balance spring was introduced in 1675 ; very soon
after that date it became universal, together with wheel-work
arranged for a run of thirty hours.
Among earlier and exceptional departures from the three-wheel
train may be mentioned an unnamed watch in the Guildhall
Museum which has four low numbered wheels. The hand work
consists of a three-leaved lantern on the great wheel arbor, driving
a wheel of twenty-seven attached to the hand ; the fusee being cut
for twelve turns, the watch would run for fifteen hours only. This
specimen dates apparently from about 1650.
Fig. 687 is a view of a very early English watch movement.
Fig. 687. — English watch without
screws, about 1600.
Fig. 688. — EngHsh watch,
about 1650.
certainly not later, I think, than 1600. There are no screws used
in its construction, and the mainspring is adjusted by means of a
ratchet and click. The train is of the numbers already given, the
hand is driven by four pegs projecting from the great wheel arbor,
acting with a hand wheel of thirty-six teeth. The fusee makes
barely eleven turns. Inscribed on the plate is the maker's name,
" Simon Bartram." Either he or possibly his namesake and
successor was appointed in the Charter of the Clockmakers' Com-
pany to be one of the " Assistants," as the members of the
Committee of Management were termed.
The first noticeable departure from the primitive arrangement
was the adoption of a tangent wheel and screw for the regulation of
the mainspring, which was introduced about 16 10, and is shown in
Fig. 688. On the barrel arbor above the tangent wheel is a disc
of silver with divisions figured as a guide in setting the mainspring
Mechanis))! of Clocks and Watches.
523
up or down ; this adjustment being evidently used to regulate in
some measure the timekeeping of the watch.
An alternative attempt at regulation before the ad\ent of the
balance spring was to fix on a movable plate two pins to intercept
the arms of the balance at longer or shorter arcs, as illustrated in
Chap. III. pp. 79, 140, 144.
A pendulum watch with a slit in the dial was illustrated on
page 231. This proved to be an inconvenient arrangement, but
in the early part of the eighteenth century many watches were made
with a cap over the balance as in Fig. 68g. The arms of the
balance were weighted, and a semicircular perforation in the cap
allowed one weight to be visible, the motion of the weight as it
vibrated resembling that of a pendulum. Pendulum watches having
•■•■•■• ••• ^-
^
Fig. GSy.
Fig. 690.
caps decorated with painting on enamel were very popular among
Dutch makers. The watch illustrated is inscribed, " Flower,
London," and dates from about 1740.
As a rule movements of w^atches were completed without reference
to the proximate owner, but an exceptional construction is shown
in Fig. 690. The watch dates from about 1700, and is by " Massy,
London." Around an heraldic shield bearing the royal arms is the
motto, " HONI SOIT QUY MALY PENSE," and bcloW, " SEMPER EADEM."
It is of Queen Anne period.
The movement of the watch by Mitzell, of which a front view
appears in Fig. 356, is covered by a silver plate, on which the royal
arms with supporters are chased, underneath is the motto, "Je Main
Tiendrai."
The demand for verge watches continued till late in the nine-
teenth century, and they were made to my knowledge in Clerkenwell
524
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
till 1882; the manufacture ceased then only because the verge
finishers died out. The last specimens had lever cocks, because
there was no one left to make the orthodox patterns.
Balance Springs. — The introduction of the balance spring,
which marks such an important epoch in the manufacture of
watches, appears to be due principally to the investigations of
Dr. Robert Hooke, about 1660. There is no doubt that Huygens
and others also experimented with various materials to find a satis-
factory controller for a vibrating balance. Huygens' labours in this
direction may, of course, have been spontaneous, but, as recounted
on page 303, Hooke asserted that a communication from him to the
Secretary of the Royal Society induced Huygens to turn his attention
to the subject.
The engraving (Fig. 691} repre-
sents a watch of German origin
from the collection of Mr. Evan
Roberts. It has a day of the month
ring, and is generally of the con-
struction usual soon after the middle
of the seventeenth century. But the
peculiar feature of the movement
lies in the application of a straight
hog's bristle to regulate the balance.
There is no sign of any other spring
having been attached, and the acces-
sories of the bristle are quite in character with the rest of the work.
There are two arms which embrace the bristle and practically
determine its acting length, and by means of a screw these may be
shifted to act over a considerable range.
Steel springs were, however, found to be the most suitable. The
primitive straight ones would of course allow but a very small
vibration of the balance, while the to-and-fro motion between pins
where it made contact with the balance involved considerable
friction. Of others, curved somewhat to the shape of a pothook,
there are still examples, but eventually the more convenient and
correct form was found to be a \-olute which had at first but one or
two coils. The coils were increased to four or five as the advantage
of a longer spring was understood, but the very long springs with
which we are now familiar were not apphed till the advent of the
lever and other detached escapements which allowed the balance to
have a larger arc of \'ibration.
Fig. 691. — Hog's bristle as a
balance controller.
Mt'cluiiiisii! of Clocks and ]]'atchcs
525
To lengthen or shorten the acting length of the spring, Tompion
appears to have used the circular slide with an index from the first.
This arrangement, -which remained in favour for a long period, is
Fig. 692. — Tompion's regulator.
Fig. 693.— Barrow's regulator.
shown in Fig. 692. Below, and attached to a silver disc, graduated
and figured as a guide to regulation, is a pinion which gears with
teeth on the outer edge of the circular slide ; from the inner edge
projects an arm carryingTtwo upright pins wliicli embrace the
Fig. G94.
spring. The projecting end of the pinion is square, so that it
could be turned by means of a watch key.
Mr. Schloss has a clock-watch by Nathaniel Barrow, dating from
about 1675, in which the outer end of the spring is continued in a
526
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
straight line to the stud at the edge of the plate, and the regulation
accomplished very much in the same way as the hog's bristle watch
already delineated. Fig. 693 is a plan of this watch movement.
The curved stud on the left is continued in a sort of zig-zag shape
to hold one end of the regulating
screw. The upper end of the nut
points to an index engraved on the
plate, and the lower extremity is
notched to receive the spring.
An early application of the balance
spring with quaintly worded instruc-
tions for regulating is shown in Fig.
694, which represents the movement
of a large striking and alarum watch
by Edward East.
A fine movement by Daniel Le
Count, dating from 1680, and having
a regulator on Barrow's principle, is shown in Fig. 695.
The chief drawback to Tompion's regulator is that owing to the
backlash or freedom between the teeth of the pinion and slide, a
Fig. 695.
<=^>-^/
Fig. 696.— Watch by Baltazar Martinet,
showing early French arrangement of
balance spring regulator.
Fig. 697.
slight reversal of the index has no effect on the curb pins. The
simple regulator now generally employed consists of a lever, fitting
friction-tight over a boss on the balance cock ; the shorter end of
the lever carries the curb pins which embrace the balance spring,
while the longer end through which it is moved serves also as an
indicator of alterations in the position of the curb pins. This device
was patented by Bosley in 1755.
MechaiiisJH of Clocks and Watches.
527
There is one point about the stud used in those of Tompion's
watches I have seen which might well be revived. The hole in the
stud for the reception of the spring was square. The modern system
of pinning, by squeezing the flat side of a spring against the surface
of a round hole, is altogether unmechanical and must distort the
spring.
Fig. 696 represents the top plate of an alarm watch by the
celebrated French maker, Baltazar Martinot. The balance is very
large, planted nearlv in tlie centre of the plate and covered by a
Fig. 6g8.
handsomely engraved bridge. The pinion and teeth of the slide
for regulation of the balance spring are uncovered, and no index
appears to have been provided.
A very similar watch by one of the Habrechts of Strasburg has
the bridge covered with the picture of a woman smoking a pipe, as
shown in Fig. 697. The painting is finely executed in enamel.
Watch Cocks. — The first of the cocks or brackets used to
support one end of the balance staff were probably quite plain, but
so prominent a feature of the movement speedily became an object
of enrichment. Of the early pierced and engraved designs examples
are given in Figs. 687, 688, 691, 693, 695, 413. These range from
528 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
the end of the sixteenth century to 1680, and it will be observed that
from its primal office of carrying the balance staff pivot the table
of the cock was gradually spread to protect the balance from dis-
turbance. In No. I of the subjoined Fig. 698, from a watch by
"Jeremie Johnson, Royal Exchange," dating from about 1685, the
edge of the table is of a plain circular form and coincident with the
outside of the balance rim ; the foot is very wide, but its outer edge
is carved, and would not correspond with the outline of the plate, to
which it would be screwed.
No. 2 is from a watch by Thomas Windmills, dating from about
1700. Here the outside of the foot followed the curve of the plate.
The narrow neck at the junction of the table and the foot seen in
this and in the preceding example appears to have been originally
provided as a space for pinning the cock to a stud and to have
survived the introduction of screw fastenings. The floral pierced
work in No. i and No. 2 is very similar, but the basket or pot in the
first is in the latter discarded for a mask, and from this period heads
or masks seem to have been incorporated with most of the designs
so long as the pierced cocks lasted. Curiously enough, the streamers
at the sides of the basket, which look appropriate, are incongruously
retained with the head ; still, the streamers and masks were associated
for thirty or forty years. About 1720, cocks with solid feet were
made, though the pierced variety is met with till about 1770.
No. 3, with a jewelled centre and a representation of a lion in a
cage, dates from about 1770, and No. 4, with the military emblems,
from 1780.
With few exceptions, French and Dutch manufacturers used a
bridge instead of a cock. No. 5, a pretty specimen, is from a
pendulum watch made about 1740. Others are shown on pages ig8,
236, and 526. On pages 198 and 526 are two finely enamelled.
The beautiful pierced work was unable to withstand the utilitarian
spirit of the nineteenth century, though it died hard. No. 6 is from
a watch by James Wild, London, with the hall mark for 1788. The
solid lever form of cock (No. 7) was taken from a verge watch with
the hall mark of 1826. A few years ago a taste for watch cock
necklaces, brooches, and bracelets arose, and thousands of interesting
movements were destroyed in mad haste to supply material for an
evanescent fancy.
Watch Pillars. — Though the pillars which connect the two
plates of a watch movement are now universally made of a plain
cylindrical form, they have been formerly the subjects of considerable
Mechanhin of Clocks and Watclics. 529
enrichment. In most of the early movements of a small size the
pillars were round ; the larger ones were usually square, and often
engraved ; but one of the first obvious departures from the utilitarian
form in order to please the eye, is shown in No. i of the subjoined
engraving. This is known as the tulip pillar, and seems to have
been introduced in deference to what may be called the tulip-mania,
which followed the introduction of tulip bulbs into England and led
artists to incorporate the flower with almost every kind of decoration.
For about 25 years from 1676 many of the finest watches were made
with tulip pillars. In some instances the vertical division shown in
the engraving was omitted. The square Egyptian pillar. No. 2, was
introduced about 1640, and continued in use for many years, the
central slit being often wider than the example, with a vertical
division and decorations on the face ; silver was the material favoured
for the decorations and divisions. The plainer square pillar, No. 3,
has also had a long life, for it is met with in watches nearly two
hundred years old, and also in specimens produced in the early part
Fig. C99.
of the nineteenth century. No. 4 is a form favoured by Dutch and
some English makers from about 1730 to 1770, and is occasionally
seen applied to much later productions. Pillars like No. 5, dating
from the first half of the eighteenth century, are more often seen in
French and German watches than in English, and are often of silver.
No. 6 is taken from a watch by EUicott, the case of which has the
hall mark for 1746, and the elegant outline is quite in accord with
the popular taste at that time. No 7 is a little later, and is taken
from a watch by John Markham, a well-known maker for the Dutch
market. During the period devoted to fancy pillars, repeaters and
clock watches where room was an object did not usually conform to
the popular taste in this particular, but were furnished with plain
round pillars, having small bodies and collars formed at the top and
bottom, to afford a more secure bearing on the plates.
Watch Escapements. — The verge, the earliest escapement, was
explained on page 33. About 1660 the Abbe Hauteville invented the
" Virgule," illustrated in Fig. 700. Its action will be understood by
those conversant with escapements. Tompion devised a form of
C.W. M M
530
Old Clocks and WatcJics and their Makers.
watch escapement shown on page 273, and subsequently were intro-
duced, among others, the cyHnder and duplex. In accordance with
my promise to avoid technicalities and modern construction, I do not
propose to descant on these ; they are dealt with fully in the " Watch
and Clock Maker's Handbook." The best of all watch escapements,
the lever, which Mudge invented and applied to a watch for Queen
Charlotte, was analogous in its action to the present form of double
roller escapement, except that the impulse pin was divided, for the
purpose of ensuring the safety action after the finger enters the
crescent, and before the impulse pin is fairly in the notch, a result
now attained very simply by having horns to the lever. Curiously
enough, the advantages of Mudge's invention seem to have remained
unrecognised for many years, except by a few of his watchmaking
friends. George Margetts and Josiah
Emery seem to have been impressed
with it, and the latter made for
Count Bruhl a watch furnished with
a lever escapement on Mudge's plan,
which performed so satisfactorily
that Emery was induced to continue
its use. In 1793 he told a com-
mittee of the House of Commons
appointed to inquire into Mudge's
claim to the Government reward,
that he had made thirty-tAVO or
thirty-three such watches, and that
his price for them was £^50 each.
By favour of Mr. George Burrell, I had the privilege a short time
ago of inspecting a very fine watch which Emery made for the Duke
of Portland. It had a lever escapement and a second roller for the
safety action, practically similar to the arrangement in first-class
timekeepers of to-day. The impulse pin was of steel, and pivoted
in jewel holes, so that it rolled in and out of the notch. The watch,
Mr. Burrell said, was originally hung in gymbals in a wooden box.
In the collection of the Clockmakers' Company at the Guildhall
is an interesting watch by John Leroux, of Charing Cross, who was
admitted an honorary freeman of the company in 1781. This watch,
by the hall mark in the case, was made in 1785, and the peculiar
feature of it is the escapement, which is a lever, but the pallets are of
unusual form and act with teeth resembling those of the cylinder
escape wheel, as shown in Fig. 701.
Fig. 700. — Virgule escapement.
Mccha)nsni of Clocks and Watches.
531
Peter Litherland in 1791 patented the rack lever escapement, in
which the lever terminates in a segmental rack which gears with a
pinion on the balance axis. Although this was an undetached
escapement, and therefore wanting in the chief excellence of Mudge's
conception, it met with considerable success, a large number being
made in the early part of the present century by Roskell of Liverpool,
chiefly for the American market.
About 1800, Edward Massey, a Staffordshire watchmaker, invented
the crank roller, in which the impulse pin is projected beyond the
periphery of the roller, something like the hnger in the going barrel
stopwork. Contact of the extremities of the lever with the edge of
the roller formed the safety action. The final perfecting of the table
roller \'ariety is ascribed to George
Savage, a Clerkenwell watch finisher,
some years afterwards.
Watch Je\A/elling. — In the early
part of the eighteenth century was
introduced the practice of using highly
polished surfaces of hard stone for the
bearings of the smaller quickly moving
watch pivots and other rubbing contacts.
In 1704 a patent was granted to
Nicholas Facio, Peter Debaufre, and
Jacob Debaufre, for the application of
jewels to the pivot holes of watches
and clocks. Facio, the inventor, was
a native of Basle, where he was born
in 1664, coming to England in the early part of 1687. Here he
seems to have busied himself with scientific pursuits, and towards
the end of the century he was elected a Fellow of the Royal
Society. His co-patentees were watchmakers, living in Church
Street, Soho, and an advertisement in the London Gazette of
May II, 1704, announced that jewelled watches were to be seen at
their shop, stating also that they made " free watches." A watch
bearing the name of " Debauffre " is to be seen at the South
Kensington Museum. Before the patent was many months old, the
patentees applied to Parliament for a Bill to extend it ; but this was
opposed by the Clockmakers' Company, and on evidence produced
by them a Committee of the House of Commons recommended that
the Bill be rejected. In reporting the successful result of their
opposition, the master of the Clockmakers' Company acquainted the
M M 2
Fig. 701.
a. The wheel. 6. The pallets c. The
lever, dd. Banking screws, c. The
detaining roller, below which on the
same axis is another roller or disc
with a ruby pin, as usual, for receiv-
ing impulse from the lever fork.
532 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
court that in the proofs brought against the Bill, there was an old
watch produced, the maker's name Ignatius Huggeford (or Hugger-
ford), that had a stone fixed in the cock and balance work, which was
of great use to satisfy the committee.
But the best of the story has yet to be told. In recent years
Huggeford's watch was taken down by Mr. E. J. Thompson, a
member of the court of the company, and he reported that " The
movement is not in any sense jewelled, the verge holes being of
brass. A piece of coloured glass or soft stone, fastened in a disc of
silver and burnished into a sink in the steel cock, gives a fictitious
appearance of jewelling."
About 1720 Facio settled at Worcester, where he died at the age of
90, and was buried at St. Nicholas' Church in that city in 1753.
Compensation. — Variation in the elasticity of the balance spring
when subjected to changes of temperature proved a fruitful source of
trouble to horologists after the application of that most useful
adjunct. Harrison's account of his " Thermometer Kirb " is given
on page 325. Mudge strove to avoid the difficulty of regulation
experienced by Harrison by using two balance springs, as stated on
page 334. Breguet invented a compensation curb on Harrison's
principle, but shaped like a quadrant in order to get a greater length
of laminae, and therefore more action. One end of the quadrant
was fixed to the index and the other carried one of the curb pins,
which by the movement of the laminae in changes of temperature
was caused to recede from or approach the fixed curb pin, and thus
to give more or less liberty to the spring. Various compensation
balances from the time of Arnold are illustrated in Watch Springing
and Adjusting, and need not be repeated here.
Evolution of Winding Mechanism for Watches. — One of
the first references to winding without opening the case of a watch
is to be found in an advertisement which appeared in the London
Gazette for January 10-13, 1686, where a watch by R. Bowen,
London, is described as having one motion, and the spring being
wound up without a key, and it opening contrary to all other
watches. Then in Overall's " History of the Clockmakers' Com-
pany " it is stated that in 1712 John Hutchinson desired to patent a
watch which, among other improvements, " has likewise a con-
trivance to wind up this or any other movement without an aperture
in the case through which anything can pass to foul the movement."
The Clockmakers' Company opposed the application, and a com-
mittee of the House of Commons examined witnesses, among others
Mechanism of Clocks and Watches. 533
George Graham and Charles Goode. Mr. Goode produced a move-
ment made fourteen years before. Mr. Hutchinson confessed
Goode's movement was hke his, and eventually withdrew his
application.
The next in order is Pierre Augustin Caron, a clever watchmaker
of Paris, who in 1752 made for Madame de Pompadour a very small
watch, which gained for him a prize from the Academy of Sciences.
This appears to have been wound either by turning the bezel or
with a slide very similar to the winding slide now used for repeaters.
A translation of his description is as follows : " It is in a ring, and is
only four lignes across and two-thirds of a ligne in height between
the plates. To render this ring more commodious, I have contrived,
instead of a key, a circle round the dial carrying a little projecting
hook. By drawing this hook with the nail two-thirds round the dial,
the watch is re-wound and it goes for thirty hours." Caron was an
accomplished musician as well as a playwriter, and is better known
under the name of Beaumarchais, as the author of " Le Barbier de
Seville " and " Le Mariage de Figaro."
In 1764 Frederick Kehlhoff, of London, patented a centre seconds
and going barrel watch with a stackfreed remontoire. A watch on
this plan by him was wound by turning the bow, the arbor of which
terminated in a contrate wheel gearing with an intermediate wheel
which engaged with a wheel on the barrel arbor ; but nothing was
said in his patent respecting the keyless work.
Lepine, who was associated with Voltaire in the establishment of
a watch factory at Ferney, in Switzerland, devised a method of wind-
ing in which the button at the pendant was turned partly round, and
then pushed in several times till the winding was completed. This
was the first of a series of what is known as " pumping " keyless
actions.
In 1792 Peter Litherland, who patented the rack lever, claimed
(patent No. 1889) " winding up watches, etc., by means of an external
lever connected by mechanism by the barrel arbor."
Robert Leslie, in 1793, patented (No. 1970) another pumping key-
less arrangement. His claim says, " On the square on which the
key should go is a ratch ; the pendant, being alternately moved in
and out, turns this ratch by means of two clicks on either end of a
fork fastened to the pendant."
A watch, dating from about 1790, signed " Jacquet Droz, London,"
which is shown in Fig. 315, is furnished with winding work of this
kind.
534
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
J. A. Berrollas, in 1827 (No. 5586), patented a somewhat similar
contrivance, but used a chain coiled round the winding wheel. I
wore for some years a duplex watch by Ganthony with this keyless
work, and it answered well.
Edward Massey, in 1814 (3854), Francis J. Massey in 1841 (8947),
and Edward Massey again in 1841 (9120), patented varieties of
pumping keyless work.
Charles Oudin exhibited at Paris, at 1806, an arrangement shown
in Fig. 702 : k is the barrel, j and g intermediate wheels gearing with
the contrate pinion // ; ^ is a disc at one extremity of the rod n h.
The rod is supported by the cock d, and has two grooves, into one
of which the spring / presses,
according to the position of the
rod. One of these grooves is
seen at c, the other is hidden,
owing to the position in which
the parts are shown. When out
of use the disc a forms part of
the ball of the pendant. In
order to wind, the rod n h is
pulled up until the nib at the
end of h comes in contact with
the interior of the pinion h,
where there is a catch ; the
spring / then falls into the
groove c, and then the winding
is accomplished by turning the
ball at a. There was no pro-
vision for setting hands.
Thomas Prest, foreman to
J. R. Arnold, at his Chigwell chronometer factory, patented in 1820
(No. 4501), a very similar arrangement to the foregoing as far as
the winding is concerned, but no provision was made for disconnecting
the wheels from the pendant knob.
A. L. Breguet applied winding work to many of his watches, and
an arrangement to connect with the motion work for setting hands
by pulling out the bow.
Isaac Brown in 1829 (5851), patented a winding-rack attached to
the bezel, the bezel being moved round to wind.
Adrien Phillipe, in 1843, invented the shifting sleeve keyless
mechanism used in many foreign watches. Lecoultre and
Fig. 702.
Mcchaiiisj)! of Clocks ajid Watches. 535
Audemars subsequently made alterations : the present construction
of shifting sleeve mechanism is, however, similar in principle to the
device of Phillipe.
Adolope Nicole, in 1844, patented (10,355) a fusee keyless work in
which a knob or the pendant was pushed in to niake connection with
the fusee wheel, and pulled out to connect with the minute wheel.
The rocking bar mechanism for winding and setting hands was
patented in 1855 (2144), by Gustavus Hughenin.
Self- Winding Watches. — Several methods have been devised
for automatic winding, of which two examples are given.
Fig. 703 shows an arrangement by Lebet for winding a watch by
the action of closing the hunting cover. There is a short gold arm
projecting beyond the joint. This arm is connected by means of a
double link to a lever, one end of which is pivoted to the plate. To
the free end of this lever is jointed a scythe-shaped rack, which works
into a wheel with ratchet-shaped teeth on the barrel arbor. A weak
spring fastened to the lever serves to keep the rack in contact with
the wheel teeth. Instead of the ordinary fly spring, there is a spring
fixed to the plate and attached by means of a short chain to the
lever. As this spring pulls the cover open, the teeth of the rack slip
over the teeth of the wheel on the barrel arbor. Each time the
wearer closes the cover, the watch is partly wound. By closing the
case eight or nine times, the winding is completed. The ordinary
method of hooking in the mainspring would be clearly unsuitable
with this winding work, because after the watch was fully wound the
case could not be closed. Inside the barrel is a piece of mainspring
a little more than a complete coil with the ends overlapping, and to
this piece the mainspring hook is riveted. The adhesion of the
loose turn of the mainspring against the side of the barrel is sufficient
to drive the watch, but when the hunting cover is closed after the
watch is wound, the extra strain causes the mainspring to slip round
in the barrel.
The method of winding just described can be applied only to a
hunting watch. Fig. 704 represents a watch by Breguet wnth what
is known as a pedometer winding. Louis Recordon, in 1780,
patented it (No. 1249), and it has been several times re-invented.
The motion of the wearer's body is utilized for winding. There is
a weighted lever, pivoted at one end, and kept in its normal position
against the upper of two banking pins by a long curved spring so
weak that the ordinary motion of the wearer's body causes the lever
to continually oscillate between the banking pins. Pivoted to the
536
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
same centre as the weighted lever is a ratchet wheel with very fine
teeth, and fixed to the lever is a pawl, which engages with the
ratchet wheel. This pawl is made elastic, so as to yield to undue
strain caused by the endeavour of the lever to vibrate after the
watch is wound.
Repeating Watches. — While the striking mechanism of clock
watches such as were produced by many of the early makers was
founded on that used in De Vick's clock. Barlow's and Quare's
repeating watches were similar in principle to the rack striking
Fig. 703.
Self-winding watch mechanism to act Fig. 704. — Self-winding or "Pedometer
on the closing of the hunting cover. watch by Breguet.
work for house clocks invented by the former. The number of
hours or quarters struck depends on the position of the snails which
revolve with the timekeeping mechanism. The hammers were
actuated by a separate mainspring, which was wound every time
it was desired that the watch should repeat. This was done by
pushing the pendant in. Connected to the inner end of the pendant
was a chain coiled round a pulley attached to the mainspring barrel,
and also a lever, which, by coming in contact with the snail, stopped
the pendant ; so that the mainspring was wound much or little
according to the number of blows to be struck.
M echanism of Clocks, and Watches. 537
The chain was found to be the most unsatisfactory part of the
mechanism, and at the beginning of the eighteenth century
Matthew Stogden substituted a rack for it. Other alterations
have since been made in the arrangements, one of the chief being
the winding of the mainspring by means of a shde projecting
from the band of the case. Barlow and Quare used a bell shaped
to the inside of the case, such as had been used before their time
for clock watches ; wire gongs, introduced by Julien Le Roy, are
now used instead.
Graham introduced a "pulse piece," which upon being pressed
kept the hammers off the bell, but allowed the time to be ascertained
by counting the throbs or beats on the pulse piece.
Dumb repeaters, said to have been invented by Julien Le Roy,
had neither bells nor gongs, the blows being struck on a solid block
fixed in the band of the case.
In 1804 Jobn Moseley Elliott patented (No. 2759) an ingenious
device for dispensing with the repeating train, as well as striking the
hours and quarters and other subdivisions with one hammer. By
turning a rod running through the pendant to the right, a pallet on
the inner end of it moved round a lever till it came in contact with
the hour snail, and while this was being done, each of the teeth of
a ratchet wheel also mounted on the inner part of the pendant rod,
engaged with the hammer stalk and caused it to strike on the bell.
The number of blows struck depended of course on the position of
the hour snail. By turning the pendant to the left, another lever
was carried to the quarter snail, and the required number of quarters
struck in like manner.
The time might in this arrangement be ascertained without a bell,
by first turning the pendant rod as far as the snail allowed, and then
reversing it and counting the number of clicks or obstructions caused
by engagement with the ratchet. The elder Grant made some dumb
repeaters on this plan.
Hall Marks. — These marks are impressed on watch cases,
jewellery, and plate after the quality of the metal has been ascer-
tained by assay at certain official Assay Halls. The marking of
jewellery is, with few exceptions, optional. The hall marking of
all watch cases of gold or silver made in Great Britain and Ireland
is compulsory. The cost is only the actual outlay incurred in
assaying and stamping. The hall mark consists of several impres-
sions in separate shields : there are the standard or quality mark ;
the mark of the particular office at which the article was assayed ;
538 Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
some character by which the date of marking may be traced, and, if
duty is chargeable, the head of the reigning sovereign.
The oldest and most important of the Assay Halls is that presided
over by the Goldsmiths' Company of London, which is situated in
Foster Lane, just at the back of the old General Post Office, St.
Martin's-le-Grand. The privilege of assaying and marking precious
metals was conferred on the company by statute in 1300. The
company received a charter of incorporation in 1327, and their
powers have been confirmed subsequently by several Acts of
Parliament.
Many early watch cases, especially silver ones of London make,
are met with which have no hall mark, the powers of the company
not being so strictly enforced then as now, or the value of the official
assay not being so generally recognised.
Repousse cases, with other artistic wares of a similar character, are
specially exempted from assay.
It was not till 1798 that a lower standard of gold than 22 carat
was allowed, 18 carat was then recognised; in 1854 three further
standards, 15, 12 and g carat, were introduced.
The standard mark of the London Hall is a lion
passant for sterling silver. A lion passant was also the
standard mark on 22-carat gold up to 1845.
For gold of 22 carats the standard mark is now a
crown, and the figures 22. For i8-carat gold the
standard mark is a crown and the figures 18.
For 15-carat gold 15 and 0625 1 Pure gold being 24 carats, these decimals
,, 12 ,, 12 ,, 05 '■ represent the proportions of pure geld
,, 9 ,, 9 .. 0-375 ^ in the article so marked.
The London Hall Mark prior to 1823 was
a crowned leopard's head; from January ist^
1823, it was uncrowned; specimens of both
styles are appended.
Date marks of the London Hall, given on pages 542, 543, are,
with one or two exceptions, actual reproductions which I have made
from watch cases. Specimens of the earliest marks are not to be
obtained.
There was a duty on silver articles of sixpence an ounce from
1 719 till 1758, but no special duty mark ; in 1784 a similar duty was
imposed, and then the head of the reigning sovereign was impressed
to denote the payment of duty. The Act came into operation on
December ist, 1784, and at first the head had a curious appearance,
being incised, or incuse as it is called, instead of in relief as the other
MechautsDi of Clocks and Watches.
539
marks were. Cases with the London mark and the letter K, which
corresponds to the period from May, 1785, to May, 1786, have the
duty head incuse, after which the head appears in rehef with London
marks. The wardens of the Birmin<^ham Assay Office have a pair
of cases with the head incuse, and the Birmingham mark with the
letter N, which would denote the period from July, 1786, to July,
1787. In 1804 the duty on silver was increased to is. 3^., and on
gold to 165. an ounce. In 1815 a further increase to 15. 6d. and
17s. 6d. respectively was made, and the duty continued at these
amounts till i8go, when it was finally abolished. Watch cases were
exempted from duty in 1798.
The maker's mark before 1697 was some emblem selected by him ;
in that year it was ordered to be the two first letters of his surname ;
since 1739 it has been the initials of the maker's Christian and
surnames.
On March 25th, 1697, the quality of standard silver was raised
from II ozs. 2 dwt. to 1 1 ozs. 10 dwt. of pure silver in 12 ozs. of
plate ; a lion's head erased was then used as the standard mark, and
a figure of Britannia as the hall mark; but on June ist, 1720, the
old standard of 11 ozs. 2 dwts., and the old marks of a lion passant
and a leopard's head were reverted to, although the higher standard
with the figure of Britannia is still occasionally used.
Marks of other Assay Oflfices.
— Chester. — Hall mark, a sword
between three wheatsheaves. Prior
to 1779 it was three demi-lions and
a wheatsheaf on a shield. Standard mark for i8-carat gold, a
crown and the figures 18. For silver, a lion passant. Before 1839
a leopard's head in addition. Chester date marks are given on
page 541.
Birmingham. — Hall mark, an anchor in a square frame for
gold, and an anchor in a pointed shield for silver. Standard mark
for i8-carat gold, a crown and the figures 18; for silver, a lion
passant. Birmingham date marks are given on page 541.
Sheffield. — A York rose and a crown.
Exeter.— A castle with three towers.
York. — Five lions on a cross.
540
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
Newcastle. — Three castles.
Norwich. — A castle and lion passant. (The
Norwich Assay Office is now closed).
Edinburgh has a thistle for the standard
mark, and a castle for the hall mark.
Glasgow has a lion rampant for the
standard, and a tree, a fish, and a bell for the
hall mark.
Dublin has a haip crowned as the standard
mark for sterling silver and for 22-carat gold,
\vith the figures 22 added in the latter case ; for
2o-carat gold, a plume of three feathers and 20 ;
for i8-carat gold, a unicorn head and 18. The lower qualities of 15,
12, and 9, are marked with the same standard mark as is used at the
London Hall. The hall mark for Dublin is a figure of Hibernia.
Mccha)iisii! of Clocks and Watches.
BIRMINGHAM ASSAY OFFICE DATE LETTERS.
541
Note
— The Date Mark is altered on
the 1st Tu
y of each year,
lastir
g from the
Date indicated in the Table till the June following.
A
•■ 1773
a ... 1799
A ... 1825
A ... 1850
a
•■ 1875
B
.. 1774
b
.. iSoo
1
.. 1826
B ... 1851
b
.. 1876
C
•• 1775
c
.. I80I
(I
.. 1827
C ... 1852
c
.. 1877
D
•• 1776
d
.. 1802
g
.. 1828
D ... 1853
a
.. 187S
E
•• 1777
e
.. 1803
(B
.. 1829
E ... 1854
e
.. 1879
F
•• 1778
f
.. 1804
w
.. 1830
F ... 1855
f
.. 1880
G
.. 1779
g
.. 1805
(S
.. 1831
G ... 1856
0
.. 1881
H
.. 1780
h
.. 1806
t
.. 1832
H ... 1857
Ij
.. 1882
I
.. 1781
i
.. 1807
3
•• 1833
I ... 1858
t
.. 1883
J
.. 1782
J
.. 1808
Hi
.. 1834
K ... 1859
k
.. 1884
K
.. 1783
k
.. 1809
1
•■ 1835
L ... i860
I
.. 1885
L
.. 1784
1
.. I8I0
#
.. 1836
M ... 1861
m
.. 1886
M
.. 1785
m
.. I8II
^
.. 1837
N ... 1862
n
.. 1887
N
.. 1786
n
.. I8l2
(0
.. 1838
0 ... 1863
a
.. 1888
0
.. 1787
0
.. I8I3
¥
.. 1839
P ... 1864
V
.. 1889
P
.. 1788
P
.. I8I4
(!?
.. 1840
Q ... 1865
^
1890
Q
.. 1789
q
.. I8I5
ii
.. 1841
R ... 1866
I
.. 1891
R
.. 1790
r
.. I8I6
*
.. 1842
S ... 1867
B
.. 1892
S
.. 1791
s
.. 1817
or
.. 1843
T ... 1868
t
.. 1893
T
.. 1792
t
.. I8I8
m
•• 1844
U ... 1869
U
.. 1894
U
•• 1793
u
.. I8I9
^J
.. 1845
V ... 1870
Ir
.. 1895
V
.. 1794
V
.. 1820
(M
.. 1846
W ... 1871
to
.. 1896
w
•• 1795
w
.. I82I
M,
.. 1847
X ... 1872
X
.. 1897
X
.. 1796
X
.. 1822
i
.. 1848
Y ... 1873
n
.. 1898
Y
.. 1797
y
.. 1823
s
.. 1849
Z ... 1874
Z
.. 1798
z
.. 1824
CHESTER ASSAY OFFICE DATE LETTERS.
The Date Mark is altered on the ist July, lasting from the Date indicated in the
Table till the end ol June in the following year.
I70I
*A
l'J2()
A I
1702
B
1727
B I
1703
C
1728
C I
1704
D
1729
D I
170.5
E
17.^0
E I
1706
F
1 73 1
F I
1707
G
1732
G I
1708
H
1733
H I
1709
I
1734
1 I
I7I0
■f
173.5
1 I
I7II
K
1736
K I
I7I2
L
1737
L I
I7I3
M
173S
M I
I7I4
N
1739
N I
I7I5
0
1740
0 I
I7I6
P
1741
P I
I7I7
Q
1742
y I
I7I8
R
1743
R I
I7I9
S
1744
S I
1720
1
1745
r I
I72I
u
1746
U I
1722
I'
1747
V I
1723
IV
1748
W I
1724
X
1749
X I
1725
y
17.50
z
1751
752
1754
t755
t756
157
^758
t759
760
E761
[762
[763
[764
[765
[766
[767
[768
[769
[770
[771
[772
[773
[774
[775
f 17S
1776
1777
1778
1779
1780
781
g 1782
h 1783
1 1784
k 1785
1 1786
m 1787
n 1788
o 1789
P 1790
q 1791
r 1792
s 1793
t 1794
u 1795
V 1796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
A 1818
B 1819
C 1820
D 1821
E 1822
F 1823
1824
H 1825
I 1826
K 1827
L 1828
M 1829
N 1830
O 1831
P 1832
Q 1833
R 1834
S 1835
T 1836
U 1837
V 183S
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1S51
1852
1S53
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
i860
1861
1862
1863
n 1864
h 1S65
Ii 1867
t 1868
f 1869
0 1870
1, 1S71
i 1872
h 1873
1 1874
m 1875
It 1876
1877
1S78
1879
1880
1881
1882
u 1883
* These are really Script capitals.
542
Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers.
DATE MARK ON GOLD AND SILVER PLATE AND WATCH
The shields represented in the subjoined tables are those used for
shield is invariably in the shape of a rectangle, with the
Note. — The Date Mark is altered on the 30th of May in
the 30th of May in
51
5]
i
1678
1679
1680
1681
1682
1685
1684
1685
1686
1687
1688
1689
1690
1691
1692
1693
1694
1695
1696
m
^
IB
1697
1698
1699
1700
1701
1702
1703
1704
1705
17O6
1707
I7O8
1709
1710
1711
1712
17^3
1714
1715
0
m
(0
L
1716
1717
1718
1719
1720
1721
1722
1725
1724
1725
1726
i727
1728
1729
1730
1731
1732
1733
1734
1735
I
m
m
u
1736
1737
1738
1739
1740
1741
1742
1743
1744
1745
1746
1747
1748
1749
1750
1751
1752
1753
1754
1755
II
m
m
1756
1757
1758
1759
1760
1761
1762
1763
1764
1765
1766
1767
1768
1769
1770
I77I
1772
1773
1774
1775
®
®
@)
(g)
(?)
m
(E
©
(til
1776
1777
1778
1779
1780
1781
1782
1783
.1784
1785
1786
1787
1788
1789
1790
J791
1792
1793
1794
1795
' This letter appeais to have been used only from March to May, 1697.
Britannia and a lion's head erased was used instead of the
f Watch cases marked between December, 1784, and May, 1798, would
Mccluniisii! of Clocks and Watclics. 543
CASES MARKED AT GOLDSMITHS' HALL, LONDON.
silver and for 22-carat gold. For lower qualities of gold the
corners taken off like the one suorrunding the A in 1876,
each year, lasting from the date indicated in the Table till
the following year.
m
m
a)
©)
B
(D
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
I8O7
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
IB
©
a)
®
[1]
r
i
(ul
1816
I8I7
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
®
®
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
8b3
854
855
®
t
®
(D
®
®
®
®
m
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
V
®
®
V
^
P
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
m
m
m
m
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
From the 25th March, 1697, to the ist June, 1720, the figure of
crowned leopard's head and a Hon passant, see page 539.
bear an extra stamp representing the head of George III. : see page 538.
( 544 )
CHAPTER IX.
FORMER CLOCK AND WATCHMAKERS.
The dates following the names in this alphabetical list signify
the period when the person referred to was connected with the
Clockmakers' Company, or known to be in business, or when some
example of his work was made. It does not necessarily follow that
he then either began or relinquished the trade. Throughout the
list C.C. stands for Clockmakers' Company, G.M. for Guildhall
Museum, where the collection of the Clockmakers' Company is
located, B.M. for British Museum, S.K.M. for South Kensington
Museum, and h.m. for Hall Mark. Following the names or
addresses of some of the makers is a slight description of speci-
mens of their work which have been met with, or of some invention
or distinguishing trait. Of the more important men, fuller descrip-
tions are given in the body of the book, and reference is then made
to the page where such particulars may be found.
On estimating the age of a timekeeper by a maker the only
reference to whom is that he was admitted to the Clockmakers'
Company, it may in the majority of cases be assumed that he was
at the time of his admission a young man just out of his appren-
ticeship ; but there are numerous exceptions. Many of those
members who constituted the first roll of the Clockmakers'
Company were of mature years at the time of the incorporation ;
and afterwards men who had made some mark or whom circum-
stances had brought into notice were then induced to join. Hon.
freemen, elected after 1780, had all made their reputation before
entry.
It is easy to understand that the roll of membership of the company
at no time represented the whole of the clockmakers and watch-
makers within its sphere of action. Many who did not care to join
would escape observation, and those who were free of other guilds
at the incorporation made their apprentices free of the particular
company to which they were attached.
Although the addresses of the freemen at first are rarely given,
Foruicr Clock and Watchmakers. 545
it may be taken for granted that they were nearly all within a radius
of ten miles, and among the later ones it will be found that very
few of them resided at any great distance from the metropolis.
Tracing the residence or business location of manufacturers is
often more difficult than many would imagine. William Clement is
referred to in scores of books as " an eminent London Clockmaker
who first applied the Anchor Escapement to clocks," and was
doubtless a leading member of his trade. He was master of the
Clockmakers' Company, and presided when Graham took up the
freedom on completion of his indentures, yet his name does not
appear in any Directory of the period, and I am quite unable to dis-
cover where he resided or practised his craft. To mention another
instance of a century later — Earnshaw, after he had enlisted the
interest of Dr. Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal, who tried a watch of
his at the Greenwich Observatory, was told by the Doctor that he
had lost an order for two watches because Maskelyne did not know
where he lived !
On some of the early clocks and watches the name inscribed was
that of the owner; but in 1777 an Act of Parliament required the
name and place of abode of the maker to be engraved. Still it must
not be concluded that in every instance the name engraved on a
timekeeper indicates its maker or even that the inscription repre-
sents any corporeal existence. In 1682 the C.C. seized from work-
men " using the art of clockmaking four unfinished movements two
whereof have engraven thereon Ambrose Smith, Stamford and
William Burges fecit, and another Jasper Harmar, all of which
names are greatly suspected to be invented or fobbed." The
practice of using apocryphal names has continued to the present
day. Sometimes it was adopted by manufacturers of repute for
watches of a lower quality than those of which they cared to own
the paternity. Occasionally in such instances the letters composing
the name of the manufacturers would be placed backwards. Many
watches marked " Rentnow, London," are to be met with, and they
doubtless emanated from the Wontners, well-known makers of a
century ago. The mark "Yeriaf" on a watch in the Guildhall
Museum is probably another example of this reversion. Some
watches with fictitious names would be the production of workmen
who occasionally made a watch for a private customer, and preferred
to thus conceal their identity rather than brave the displeasure of
their employers. Mr. Evan Roberts has a watch marked "Notyap,"
London, which was possibly the production of Payton, a case maker
c.w. N N
546 Old Clocks and ]Vatches and their Makers.
who in 1790 carried on business in Addle Street. But in most
instances such pseudonyms appear to be really the trade marks of
wholesale dealers, who in ordering watches would supply particulars
of the name to be engraved. Many hundreds of watches for the
Dutch market were marked "Tarts, London," or "Jno. Tarts,
London." Yet I do not think anyone has been able to trace a
manufacturer named Tarts. Between 1775 and 1825 the custom of
having the name of the owner and not of the maker was often
reverted to, usually with a.d. preceding the date figures, and
occasionally also "aged 21," or "married," or "born."
The more reprehensible act of adopting celebrated names appears
also to have been of early origin. In Overall's " History of the
Clockmakers' Company," it is stated that in 1704 the master of the
C.C. reported " certain persons at Amsterdam were in the habit of
putting the names of Tompion, Windmills, Quare, Cabrier, Lamb,
and other well-known London makers on their works, and selling
them as English." It is to be feared that some English makers were
not free from suspicion of similar misdeeds both then and since.
Watches and clocks with Turkish numerals often bore more than
one name. It appears that only the timekeepers of certain favoured
manufacturers or dealers whose names were registered were admitted
into Turkey, and on watches for the Byzantine markets made by
others a registered name would be engraved, followed by the
name of the actual producer. This, I presume, was usually done by
arrangement with the "maker" who had the right of entry. On
watches for Turkey the word " Pessendede," signifying warranted,
sometimes followed the name or names. Occasionally the first,
and perhaps the sole name inscribed, would be merely that of a
registered agent.
The locality of the residences may not in all cases be readily
recognised. A place called Swithen's Alley in early eighteenth
century records, but more generally known as Sweeting's Alley,
Cornhill, or Roy 
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